Digimon Continuity: Aftermath of 02
by Vylantze
Summary: This will be one of the darkest fics you will ever read. Secrets, lies, betrayals, love triangles...and even deaths lie around every corner. This is war, not everyone will make it out unscathed. You have been warned, for this is the Aftermath of Zero Two.
1. Gathering of Chosen

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own this plot and the entire series unless stated otherwise.

* * *

**_Digimon Continuity_  
**

**Aftermath of 02 - Part One**

**The Government**

Chapter 1

_Gathering of Chosen  
_

* * *

**Tuesday - 31st December 2002**

* * *

_**:.**_** Digital World - Server Continent**

**06:24 PM JST**

"OIKAWA!!" Iori let out one final shout to the heavens as what was left of Oikawa disappeared into the horizon, fusing with the Digital World. Moments passed, silence ensuing with none daring to break it. It was a time of grief for the man that sacrificed the remainder of himself to restore the Digital World. A sacrifice that none of them would forget. The image of the Real World above faded as the white blue sky of the Digital World was restored.

The first to step forward was none other than Daisuke. The latter placed a hand on Iori's shoulder, who was still staring at his hands in shock and disbelief. "Iori..." The said boy's shoulders sagged. "It was... it was his wish... we have to respect it..." The youngest member of the main team looked into the eyes of the goggle bearing boy.

Takeru walked over, hat still off, and helped Iori to his feet. He resisted the urge to wise-crack Daisuke's choice of words that were not usually the latter's style, but now was not the time. "Daisuke is right." Takeru agreed. "Even if we didn't want it to happen, it has... and we have to live with that." Iori nodded, but it was clear that his thoughts were still on his father's former friend. The Digimon approached and joined their respective partners.

"Is Iori going to be alright?" Patamon whispered, perched at the top of his head. Takeru shrugged, unsure.

Gennai walked over as well. "It is rare to find human adults who would be willing to have done such a thing... even if his life had been spent in darkness, I believe his last actions have redeemed him." The others nodded in agreement. Oikawa wasn't even really the one doing it. It was all Myotismon... or MaloMyotismon. He was not to blame for being the scapegoat to cover the vampire Digimon's actions. Mutterings in from the foreign Chosen were heard, but none of them understandable. Takeru frowned. They may have reached a certain level of understanding during the time when they all needed to work together to solve the problem of the Digimon in their world, but that did not mean that the language barrier between the Japanese Chosen and the others had been removed.

Gennai seemed to notice this as well. He gave Takeru and the others a smug grin, before begining to speak in another language altogether, calming a few to listen. This went on for a while, allowing the Japanese Chosen to stand one side where they stood out and could regroup. Takeru, after making sure that Iori would be alright with Armadillomon, walked to where Koushiro stood. "Um... I didn't know Gennai was multi-lingual."

The older boy simply shrugged. "Neither did I, but I'm glad he is." Takeru gave a glance around. A tingling feeling made its way from his gut to his feet, leaving the bottom of them sweaty. Everyone was looking at the main Chosen, the Japanese, in eager anticipation. Gennai was obviously the cause of this. Before Takeru could phrase the question, Koushiro already spoke up. "What did you tell them, Gennai?" The former owner of the Crest of Knowledge asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I simply told them to calm down and listen to what you had to say," the Digital Being said calmly, while Koushiro looked as though he was about to jump into the air.

The red head gulped. "Um... we don't have much to say..." Takeru could practically hear the thoughts going through Koushiro's head. The genius could probably come up with a dozen and one ways to make use of this rare gathering of all the Chosen of the world, but clearly the guy needed time to _think_ them up. Koushiro was not one used to acting purely by his gut... though Taichi was.

The leader of the older team and the former bearer of the goggles that Daisuke so proudly wore stepped forward, automatically taking charge. No one complained, not even his brother, who would usually be the one to object. But as of late, Takeru realised with a start that Taichi had rarely messed up anymore, though the times when he did so on purpose had to be discounted. It was perhaps Daisuke that kept the image of the Taichi of old that was always criticised by his brother for something foolish, one aspect that was previously shared by Daisuke, who had also seemed to grow mature. Takeru found this odd, and blamed it on himself being too used to them to notice any change at first.

"Alright Koushiro, I guess that we should celebrate, right? The Digital World is restored again, and MaloMyotismon is gone."

"But... Oikawa..." The said boy protested.

Taichi sagged his shoulders, indicating the release of his tension. "Oikawa wouldn't have wanted us to grief for him too much. Besides, he is probably looking at us right now, wanting us to celebrate this occasion." Takeru looked up to the sky on impulse, and found that the butterflies that represented Oikawa were flying around over their heads. Though none of them had really gotten close to Oikawa to know him well, Takeru took the butterflies as a sign that Taichi was right.

Iori seemed to agree. "Yeah, I'm sure Oikawa would have wanted us to do that, and probably let the other Chosen see the Digital World. After all, this is the first time most of them have come here." Iori said all of it calmly, though Takeru could detect a few breaks in his DNA partner's voice as the boy attempted calm.

"No guys, we should probably go home first, our parents and theirs are worried. We can schedule the tour of the Digital World some other day," Sora said, looking up into the sky where the Real World had been projected previously.

"Sora is right, Taichi," Yamato agreed. The younger group did not comment as the older ones engaged in conversation, neither did the foreign Chosen, showing great respect for the original Chosen.

"Yeah Taichi. I think we should leave the younger team's Digimon here in the Digital World to recuperate," Koushiro said. When Daisuke and Veemon opened their mouths to object, Koushiro quickly cut them. "Come on guys. You wouldn't have enough strength to hold your data together in the Real World, even in your In-Training forms. You had best stay here a while longer, and we'll come pick you guys up tomorrow," Koushiro finished, before giving it some thought. "Besides, we can have the foreign Chosen leave their Digimon here too, and our Digimon can use the time to get to know one another. That'll make things a lot easier."

Daisuke frowned. "But I thought they didn't speak our language," he said, confused.

Miyako made a move to hit Daisuke on the head, but was held back by Ken. Koushiro sighed. "Daisuke, don't you think that Digimon have their own language too?"

Daisuke's features took an expression of shock. "They _did_?" Takeru laughed aloud.

"Of course they did, Daisuke."

"Yeah, Daisuke." Veemon agreed.

Koushiro shook his head. "Um... guys, let's not leave them in suspense anymore." He pointed to the foreign Chosen, confused by not being able to understand Japanese, save a few who were very busy translating. Taichi nodded, glancing to Gennai.

The Chosen's old friend turned to the foreign ones, somehow projecting his voice in various languages to allow for them to understand what they were supposed to do. Meanwhile, Mimi came over along with two familiar faces.

"Hi guys, look who I met!"

One of them was inevitably Michael, while the other was surprisingly, a blonde with two bunnys of clashing colours on each shoulder. "Hiya guys." The other American greeted in rather fluent Japanese. "Nice to see you again."

"Hi, Daisuke, Veemon." one of the bunnys waved.

"Wallace!" was Daisuke's rather stunned reply, forgetting to greet the said boy's two Digimon. Takeru thought he detected a faint trace of jealousy from the tone, and remembered with a short chuckle how Wallace turned the goggle bearer green by simply kissing both Hikari and Miyako. Doing both had dramatic effect as, Takeru chuckled again, Daisuke never had the privilege of doing so for either before. Strangely, the thought made him feel a little jealous as well, though Takeru shook it off to meet their friends.

"How are you doing, Wallace?" Hikari asked, Gatomon in her arms.

"Fine." Wallace replied smiling. "Or at least, better after Kokomon came back." The darker variation of the two bunnys waved uneasily.

"That... is Kokomon?" Miyako asked in surprise. Ken looked lost as the conversation continued.

"Yep. I found his egg and now he's back to normal again... though he is shy." Wallace said, while Gummymon laughed at his companion. Kokomon looked even more uncomfortable and tried to edge closer to the other side of Wallace.

"Gummymon, don't make fun of your twin." Wallace scolded before turning to the shyer bunny. "Come on Kokomon, he was just having some fun, he meant no harm." The bunny merely nodded, but pulled himself closer to Wallace. The latter sighed.

"Um... what about us?" Noriko asked out of the blue. Takeru stopped in his tracks, glancing at the assembled former Dark Spored children. But he need not do anything, for Taichi touched his shoulder.

"Takeru, I need you to go to the French Chosen."

An eyebrow rose. "Why?"

"Catherine at the very least will recognise you, and she can tell the other French Chosen what to do. You need to get their emails, and give them ours. Gennai and his other... uh... friends, will come over translate if you need help. I'll take care of the guys here," Taichi said. Takeru nodded in understanding, and began to make his way to the distinct place where the French Chosen were. Wallace decided to tag along.

"Why are you following me?" Takeru asked when the former caught up.

"Oh, Mimi already explained most of what we need to know to the American ones, and I already understand just fine. Besides, Kokomon was getting agitated, so I thought it would be better for him if there were less people around." Wallace absent-mindedly petted Kokomon on the head. "Also, I can help too. I sure they speak English," Wallace said with a grin. Takeru shrugged, and found to his surprise Patamon was asleep.

* * *

_**:.**_** Digital World - Server Continent**

**06:57 PM JST**

"Can someone explain to me who was that guy?!" Ken asked in anger as the _guy_ walked away with Takeru, chatting like old friends. Wormmon tried to calm his partner down, but to no avail.

"Oh... yeah, Ken, I forgot you didn't know," Daisuke said, though the grin he had on was very misleading.

"That's right, Daisuke, I _don't_ know. Who is he?"

"He's Wallace, Ken," Hikari said. "We met him after defeating you as the Kaiser. But then you were not with us yet, that is why the both of you never met."

"Oh..." was what Ken had to say.

Koushiro came over to them, beckoning them together. "Guys, we need you to go to the Chosen you met in during the 'Tour'."

"Eh? What for?"

"Well, Daisuke," Koushiro began to explain. "We need to get their emails, and give them ours so that we can remain connected. Then a lot of things will be a whole lot easier. So, Daisuke, Taichi can use a hand, as Mimi is already done with the American Chosen. Ken, go with Yamato to the Russian Chosen. Iori..." Koushiro hesitated for a moment, frowning. But Iori nodded, and indicated that he was alright. "... Iori, you're with Joe on the Australians. Hikari comes with me, and Miyako go with Sora to the smaller groups." He shifted his gaze to Miyako. "You have the hard job Miyako, you and Sora. There are those who we haven't met and are not part of the few big groups. You and Sora will have to go to them one by one to do the exchange, think you can handle it?"

"Of course I can," Miyako said with a nod, proud to have such a task.

"Alright. I have already told Sora and Gennai. They are waiting for you." With that, the Chosen split up to their respective tasks.

Hikari went with Koushiro, as the latter said. "I didn't think that Mimi could finish so fast."

Koushiro flashed her a smile. "Me neither, but I guess it helps to speak English and have Wallace around. And it has been a while since they have met."

Hikari nodded, agreeing with the older boy's statement before she halted. "Wait a minute," Hikari said as the thought ran through her mind. "They have met before?" _No wonder she brought Wallace along with Michael to meet us... but I don't remember either of them having mentioned that they have met the other before._

Her statement was met with a frown. "Yeah, they have," He said rather reluctantly.

"When?"

"Well... some time before," Koushiro replied, though his answer wasn't much help. Hikari made to continue, but decided to postpone it when they bumped into the Chinese Chosen... and in particular, three love-sick Hong Kong ones. Her face paled. _Oh no. I forgot..._

* * *

_**:.**_** Digital World - Server Continent**

**09:43 PM JST**

A few hours later, the Japanese Chosen, the two teams, first and second, gathered together once again. All were tired and exhausted, but satisfied. "Well, I think most of them are gone." Koushiro said, refering to the Dark Spored Chosen.

"They are. I sent the other kids back quite a while ago and came back," Taichi said in response, feeling his back ache from the constant movement. "How did everything go?"

"Smoothly. Now all the Chosen know our emails... mine actually," Koushiro muttered the last part, but Taichi heard anyway. "I think that I am most likely going to need a translator for my laptop soon, seeing the number that of emails with languages I _don't_ understand about to hit my mailbox," Koushiro said with a grimace.

"Don't worry, Koushiro," Yamato yawned. "We'll find a way around that in time."

"Hey, isn't it a little late?" Takeru asked, checking his watch. "Our parents..." He began.

"... are not worrying," Taichi finished. "I've told them what we were doing and that we were going back a little late when I went with the others to the Real World," he continued, mentioning his having to teach the Dark Spored children how to use their new D3s.

"Then... I guess it is time to go home?" Mimi asked. Without waiting for an answer, she continued. "About time. I'm tired."

"So am I, Mimi," Palmon said, yawning as well.

Mimi picked up her partner, probably deciding that it was rather safe now to bring her Digimon to the Real World in America, and waved goodbye to them as she opened a Digital Gate to where she lived. After waving back in return, Koushiro quickly continued the conversation. "Alright guys, you have to leave your Digimon here now."

His statement was met with groans from Daisuke. "But why?" Veemon asked, enthusiasm damped.

Koushiro was in a bad enough mood to glare. Having to give and take down emails of who knew how many Chosen would do that to a person. "_No_." Koushiro said firmly. "You have to leave them here to rest."

Only Daisuke opposed. But when confronted by his irritable team-mates, he allowed it. "But I'll be back first thing in the morning to get Veemon!"

"I think the only problem is that you wouldn't be able to wake up, Daisuke." Taichi heard Veemon say. Daisuke's face turned red, but the other Chosen only had the strength to chuckle.

"Don't worry guys, we'll also leave our Digimon here, so that your Digimon at least has company," Taichi told the goggle wearing boy in hopes to lighten his spirit. Taichi swore he heard Gatomon groan about how she had to stay with less-than-mature Digimon for a whole day.

"Good idea, Taichi," Yamato sanctioned. "But it is really time we get back."

The said teenager nodded, making his way to the DigiPort first. He had to make sure none of them, especially Daisuke, try to sneak their Digimon out. As much as he wanted to allow it, he knew for a fact that a good day's rest without fighting to hold together their data will do good for the Digimon.

Fortunately, none of them were in the right mind to even attempt such a plot. Daisuke included. Soon, they were through the portal and on their way home.

* * *

**First of all, I would like to thank Crazyeight for Beta Reading, and correcting my grammar mistake.**

**Next, I would like to inform all readers that this fic will take a _very _long time to update, more so than my usual fics that is for sure. It was after all, intended to be released a lot later.**

**So review what you think of the start... and enjoy it while it lasts. Aftermath of 02 is not going to be all that peaceful. Chaos is the right definition for this fic. And I believe it will all start by the next chapter, though there are no guarantees. **

**You readers might want to take note that the Sneak Previews have been renamed and will be removed upon the release of Aftermath of 02's next chapter. Note that reviewing _may_ (big one here) convince me to release the next chapter sooner... may people.**

**And like I said before: Welcome to the Aftermath, where your worst nightmares come true.**


	2. Media Trouble

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own this plot and the entire series unless stated otherwise.

* * *

**Digimon Continuity  
**

**_Aftermath of 02 - Part One_  
**

**The Government**

Chapter 2

_Media Trouble_

* * *

**Tuesday - 31st December 2002**

* * *

_**:.**_** Real World - Japan, Odaiba  
Izumi Residence  
**

** 09:49 PM JST**

"Whoa! Incoming!"

"AH! Get out of the way!"

"Look out!"

...

...

"Ouch," Daisuke groaned. "That hurt."

The bright side is, Koushiro's room was big enough to house all of them. The down side is... apparently not big enough to prevent them from getting stacked one on top of the other to the ceiling... _Not really. _Takeru thought._ But close. _One might have asked why all of them went to Koushiro's house instead of going to their respective homes? Well, for one thing, Koushiro's computer is the only one outside of the elementary school that actually had a functioning and open DigiPort program. If it had been closed... well, it was not possible to open it from the Digital World, as it could only be opened by a D3 on the Real World side.

"What do you mean that hurt?! You're on top of all of us!" Miyako shouted, struggling.

"Well, usually DemiVeemon lands on top..." Daisuke said frowning. His answer simply caused Miyako to struggle further, initiating a series of groans from all.

"Please stop, Miyako," Ken pleaded. "You're kicking me."

"And us too," the rest of them chorused.

Miyako chuckled uneasily. "Sorry... but don't blame me! It's Daisuke's fault!"

Takeru sighed, shaking his head, which was difficult to do in his current position. "Why don't you start by getting off, Daisuke?"

"Oh, right."

They slowly untangled themselves, with of course Daisuke getting off the top. Takeru suddenly felt light-headed... because he was very conveniently sandwiched with Hikari right below him, facing him. Right below him meaning he was could have kissed her right there if the both of them weren't backing away for some air. His heart was on overdrive, and he felt his face burn. Not exactly the most comfortable position to be in with a girl, even if that girl was your best friend.

"Whoa Takeru, nice landing," Takeru heard his brother chuckle from somewhere above him.

"Ha! You're not so lucky yourself! At least Takeru's going to kiss Hikari, who is a girl!" Takeru felt his face heat and cold sweat go down his back at Taichi's rather horrible joke, seeing how he was the only one on the verge of laughing out loud. "You're practically kissing Koushiro!" Taichi laughed uncontrollably, rocking the whole pile.

"TAICHI!!" Yamato and Koushiro exclaimed, though the others soon followed. The first two did so because of the comment, but the others... imagine getting shaken by a madly laughing idiot, well, laughing while under a whole lot of people getting shakening by the same idiot. Result, a very bad headache. Taichi was still the same person he was, still a little immature up there despite having outgrown most of it... most of it. The worst part, it caused him to come closer to Hikari than he ever needed to be... he could even smell her perfume and feel the heat of her blush. And he never knew Hikari wore perfume. _It's not perfume... it's her._ Yes, it was Hikari's smell... and it was awfully pleasant.

"Oh, sorry," Taichi said, and though Takeru could not see him, he could still hear the former grinning. Some things never changed. But Takeru quickly pulled away from Hikari, keeping at least a few centimetres at least between his face and hers. How he wished he could move his hands without touching something he shouldn't.

At long last, Takeru jumped off the not-so-sane former gogglehead's sister, face still red. Her face was bright crimson too, which made him a little less embarrassed, but one thing was for sure. He would never learn the end of it from Yamato. _Note to self, try to avoid visiting Yamato so often._

Still, he tried to gallantly help Hikari up to make up for the landing. Tried. "Need a... oof!" Takeru started before someone pushed him away rather violently, causing him to hit the bookshelf and rock it, but he hoped it wouldn't fall on him anytime soon. It didn't, lucky.

"Mind if I help, Hikari?" Daisuke asked, having taken the place where Takeru stood a split second before. The latter rubbed his head, getting to his feet while Hikari took Daisuke's hand and got to her feet as well. The blonde rolled his eyes. Usual Daisuke behaviour. Some things never changed, even after you have saved two worlds a few hours ago and actually showed insight and maturity. Takeru thought he preferred the Daisuke that had saved the world compared to the usual Daisuke, not that he would ever say it. But he would applause the day it ever happened... if it ever happened.

"Thanks, Daisuke," Hikari said gratefully. But she soon turned to Takeru, causing Daisuke to flare in jealousy. "Are you alright?" Takeru nodded in reply, silently thankful he did not have to go through the inevitable how-much-Daisuke-loved-Hikari talk from Daisuke... yet.

Once the last Chosen had gotten off Joe, the Chosen of Reliability took a deep breath. "At last! I though I was going to suffocate to death." Apparently, he was at the bottom of the pile. Takeru shook his head. _Well, someone had to be down there..._

"Glad you aren't," Taichi said. "Can't have your death on my conscious." The latter finished, still grinning... surprise, like an idiot.

"I think you will have everyone's death on your conscious due to suffocation if we don't get out soon!" Yamato exclaimed. It was true... Takeru himself was mashed into Koushiro's bookshelf, smelling the dust on the books. He could hardly move without bumping into another of the others and starting a chain reaction. That was how crowded the room was. It was more like a mini marketplace. Literally too.

"Hey! Who's nearest the door?!" Daisuke shouted, hurting the ears of those near him.

"Daisuke!" Miyako exclaimed, being nearest the said goggle wearer. Daisuke muttered an apology.

"Um... me," Iori said in reply to Daisuke's question, before finally turning the handle, allowing the rest of them to fall out the door like a flood with a loud crash.

Mrs Izumi glanced to them, jumping back startled before a smile formed on her lips while she sat in the living room with her husband. Mr Izumi had the same reaction, but their apparently rapid recovery from the shock must have come from the fact that learning so many impossible things, like the existence of the Digimon and the Digital World, must have lead them to have reached a point to be unable to be so easily surprised anymore.

"Hello, this is getting to be a busy place, with all the people passing through," Mrs Izumi said. The parents had left the former summer camp site after the battle with MaloMyotismon, after Koushiro told them via the D-Terminal email system that their kids were going to be alright. He requested them to go on home, and wait for their son and/or daughter. He must have convinced them, otherwise Taichi must have paid a visit, which explained why he took so long to send the Spored Chosen home. The relief was audible in Mrs Izumi's voice. Even though Koushiro had told them not to worry, she still did.

"Sorry, Mom," Koushiro's voice came out muffled, due to the sheer number of people his voice had to filter through to get out. "There was no other place we could go that wouldn't have us perhaps attracting the authorities."

"Speaking of attracting authorities, something strange is going on here," Mr Izumi said, frowning.

That caught all of their attention. Struggling, the rest of them finally made it out of the door and stood up. "Strange? In what way?" Koushiro asked the question on all their minds.

Still frowning, he continued. "Well, rather it is something that is _not_ going on."

"What is it?" Koushiro asked his adopted father, curiosity and worry peaking.

"Here, take a look yourself," Mr Izumi said as he passed the television controller to Koushiro, who switched the TV on. It was showing a normal program, the usual. Koushiro changed the channels, and all of them were following their usual routine of programs. _So what is wrong?_

"There's nothing on about anything special," Yamato said.

"_Exactly_. There isn't anything on at all." Takeru was lost. _What is Mr Izumi getting at?_ "You would think that with all that happened, with another world appearing above our heads _again_ for the second time, the news would be all over it for days, weeks even." Mr Izumi took the controller from Koushiro and surfed the channels to emphasise his point. He was right. Not a single channel was talking about the apparent blackout of the entire world and kids suddenly wielding weird devices clearing the black fog. It was as if nothing had happened.

Koushiro had the answer. He was in fact smiling. "That would likely be thanks to Gennai. But I don't see why it is necessary, as it is sure that the entire world knows of the existence of the Digital World now, due to the MaloMyotismon."

The room sat in stunned silence at the magnitude of what Koushiro was implying so calmly. "So... we actually don't have to hide the Digimon anymore?" Ken asked.

Koushiro put his hand on his chin. "Well, I wouldn't say I know, because I don't... but... maybe," Koushiro answered with a growing grin.

Takeru was sure that everyone could have cheered right there and then, and not even wariness would prevent it... But something did. A beep on Koushiro's ever present laptop. All attention in the room turned to it. Seemingly very nervous with the sudden unwavering attention on him, Koushiro opened his laptop and a startled expression appeared on his face, before his grin replaced it. "What a coincidence, I was just planning to call."

Takeru tried to edge around, wondering who exactly the caller was. Koushiro must have caught sight of his curious expression, for he turned the screen around to reveal Gennai in high quality video shown in the screen. Just then, Gennai questioned Koushiro about what he had said. "Why were you planning to call?" He asked, his now youthful face showing an eyebrow up. It seemed that such transmissions between the Real and Digital Worlds with normal processing power like Koushiro's laptop's computer processor would result in some lagging, as Gennai took a few moments to register that Koushiro had turned the computer around, and a while longer for the image to catch his expression and send it to the laptop to project.

"Ah... give me a few seconds..." They heard his voice say, before everything smoothed out and it seemed that the video transmission was now powered by a more powerful source other than Koushiro's computer, likely from Gennai's side. "Finally, now you were saying?"

"Oh, uh, don't worry about it," Koushiro replied, clearly pleased with the now easier communications. "I was just telling the others the same thing, as you were the one helping to stop all kinds of media about the Digital World and Digimon as much as possible. But I was just planning to ask why, as there is no need anymore with the Blackout." At some point or another, the worldwide blackout had been capitalized into the name, Blackout, which was very fitting.

Mr and Mrs Izumi fidgeted uncomfortably, as though they felt out of place. It was not everyday that you suddenly meet all the friends that your son had ever made, not to mention the friends being beings from another world. And there was still the enemies like MaloMyotismon they had likely seen...

Gennai looked surprised... as surprised as a Digital Being designed to look like a human by who knows who could look. "I did not," he said with a frown. "Nor did any of the other me(s)," he added, forestalling the next question.

"Then who did?" Koushiro asked, putting the computer on the table nearby, his parents glancing at each other and back at the screen, at a loss for what they should be doing. Koushiro did not notice, making his way around so that he was in full view of his computer camera.

Gennai shook his head in reply. "I don't think that it is us doing the blocking of the relevant reports about the Blackout of the Human World. I think it will be someone on your side, someone in the Human World, that is doing this," Gennai said gravely, bringing up more questions than answers. Who had the power to be able to do this so quickly? The media was very fast and efficient, often being able to slip out of corners and somehow put on air whatever it is they want to put on. But seeing everything normal right now gave Takeru a feeling he did not like.

* * *

_**:.**_** Real World - Japan, Odaiba  
On the Road  
**

**10:16 PM JST  
**

After pondering the mystery for well over half an hour with no answers, Taichi suggested that everyone get home to get some sleep. It was a long and hard day. Perhaps they would be better off the next day all fresh.

Slowly, one by one, they left Koushiro's home, making their way to their own homes. Takeru walked with Miyako and Iori to their apartment block, with each ensuring that they would let their families know of all their activities with the Digimon. Yamato had initially wanted to go with them, and with Taichi going with Daisuke to explain to the families instead. Ken, Hikari and Takeru were unnecessary, as Ken's parents already knew everything. He himself could tell his own parents instead and Yamato would do Takeru's and his mother. Taichi knew perfectly why the blonde would rather not go to Daisuke's home to explain instead. Jun brought to his best friend less than pleasant memories about having to run from girls wanting a piece of him... literally.

But the younger generation convinced him otherwise, countering with his own argument that they were too tired. In the end, Taichi decided that they could take care of themselves, seeing how they had already done so well against MaloMyotismon without the older generation's help. "Taichi?" Hikari asked softly.

The said teenager jerked out of his thoughts, mildly surprised. Hikari rarely called him by his real name, and even when she did she merely called him 'Tai' for short. She must be really serious about something. "Yes?"

"Is what Gennai saying really true? Does someone know of the Digimon other than the Chosen in the Real World?"

Taichi gave the question his full attention. The question bounced around the insides of his head, searching for an answer. There was none. "I don't know," he replied truthfully. "Maybe. Some guys like Sora's Dad may be studying what had happened three years ago, Hikari. I really don't know. They may really be powerful enough to stop all news about the Blackout."

"But they can't get the whole internet... can they?"

"No, I don't think so..." He left the sentence there to hang. First thing the next day, he was going to ask Koushiro to search the internet for anything about the Blackout...

His D-Terminal beeped urgently, breaking the silence of the siblings' walk home. _Guess he was already on it. _Taichi thought as he opened the D-Terminal to reveal Koushiro as the sender. It said to have him home as soon as possible, as Koushiro mentioned really needing to talk to him about something. Taichi frowned. Rare as it might be, Koushiro asking him to hurry home was not usual behaviour. It had to have something to do with the Blackout, that was one thing for sure.

"Who is it?" Hikari inquired, trying in vain to peep over his arm to see the screen.

"Koushiro. He wants to talk to me, fast."

"Why? Did he mean only you? Or did he mean only the older team?" There was a slight hurt in Hikari's voice. Taichi knew his sister thought that Koushiro didn't believe that her team was strong enough or that her team couldn't handle it. But Taichi believed that Koushiro simply wanted them to rest, as they did most of today's work while the older team was more... free. Still, to him, she would always be his little sister, so he would still take any chance to get her to stay away from anything dangerous. Brother's instinct. He couldn't help it even if he wanted to... which he didn't.

"I don't know," he said, feeling stupid. Any other answer would hurt her even further. Luckily for him, Hikari didn't probe. He was grateful. To show it, he put an arm around her. "But tell you what, even if it is only for me. I promise to tell you all about it tomorrow morning, alright?"

That cheered her up. A faint smile appeared. "Thanks, Big Brother."

He nodded. "But you must get some sleep, alright? I can hear you tossing and turning around the last few days. I hope today you will sleep properly, okay?"

Hikari reddened considerably, as though he had said something that embarrassed her. Taichi thought about the last few words, then had a brainwave. _Could it be?_ he mused. It was highly likely, but Taichi decided not to say anything until he was sure. He also did not want to jump to conclusions yet, not only for her situation but his own as well...

* * *

_**:.**_** Real World - Japan, Odaiba  
Koushiro's Room  
**

**10:31 PM JST**

Koushiro waited, impatient. His foster parents had left him alone, as he promised to tell them he was going to be alright. Gennai had called for a reason, and it was in relation to the Blackout. The reason?

The internet was full of pictures of the sky... which was the Digital World during the Blackout. Not to mention some of them about the Chosen flying into the sky through their Digivices. Gennai had wanted to tell him about it, but before he could, Taichi had announced that all of them go home first. The thing to fuss about... was that the world had not taken it likely. They did not like the idea of the Digital World spawning Digimon into their world one bit.

As Koushiro browsed through the forums, more and more rattled about the things that had been witnessed hours ago. More images were uploaded with each minute. Some showed shots of the Digital World itself. Others... showed MaloMyotismon and ImperialdramonFM in battle. The comments that went with the images were what that were shocking. They did not mention how the giant dragon man Mega fought MaloMyotismon valantly and won. Instead, they said how they did not want _monsters_ to be trying to destroy their world.

Other forums were arguing with speculations about why the media was not grabbing the largest scoop they would ever have... ever. Most blamed one thing... the Digimon they had seen up in the sky when the Blackout occurred. Others speculated something else, the governments of the world. However, they still stuck to the Digimon thing. They believed that the _demons_ had brainwashed their governments during the brief period of the Blackout. So many inquires were sent to the government that their server had crashed and the phone lines were scrambled to the point where the only thing one could reach was static.

Things were going from bad to worst. More gruesome and wild speculations were being made, some not even beginning to make sense. The world was in a panic. Koushiro wished that he had thought of monitoring the Real World for their reactions sooner. Now it was too late. Now... he hoped the others would call him soon. Forcing himself to swallow his saliva, Koushiro tried to remain calm.

Suddenly, the phone beside him rang...

He jumped right out of his seat.

While the phone rang loudly, Koushiro climbed back onto his chair and put his shaking hands on the keyboard, a gesture that had always calmed him before. Not today. His hands still shook. Thus, he ignored the shaking as he put one out to pick up the still ringing phone. Struggling to keep his voice level, he spoke into the mouthpiece. "H-Hello?"

* * *

**Well, that's the end of yet another chapter of Aftermath. I have brought about one of the worst things that could occur. Now we just have to see how it is dealt with. **

**Now, thanks**** to Lord Pata, Canis Black, Lightscreener, SugarSpiral, Courage Sun, 90MLLu, Crazy PurpleSage, omimon, Matt Lans, Arsinen for reviewing. Thanks a whole lot (again XD). Your reviews are greatly appreciated, so keep them coming!**

**Also, thanks to Crazyeight for Beta Reading. Thanks for taking time to beta read!... If you are free to read this! XD**

**Now, plans. I want you all to note how the Chosen act around each other now, because as the fic progresses, it is going to become very, very, very (need I go on?) different. I didn't call it a dark fic for no reason you know. This is just the beginning... not to mention that there is still Part Two.**

**Oh right, for those who don't know, I am splitting Aftermath into two parts, Part One and Part Two, which are The Government and the Guardian respectively. Don't worry. There will still be Digimon kicking other Digimon butt in Part One, just a whole lot more in Part Two compared to Part One.**

**Hmm... anything else?... Well, I think that's about it. Keep an open eye for the triangles (and what happens after...)! **

**...**

**...**

**I swear I know I'm forgetting something... and it was not the paradox thing from Brave Tamer... Hmm... **

**Oh yeah! Now I remember! I was supposed to delete the Sneak Previews. I hope you all have seen them. Now, one sec... Done!... And also, I am adding time and place from now on in Aftermath. As for the others, I will have to see.  
**

**Alright, now that that's over, don't forget to review!**


	3. Virus Attack

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own this plot and the entire series unless stated otherwise.

* * *

**Digimon Continuity  
**

**_Aftermath of 02 - Part One_  
**

**The Government**

Chapter 3

_Virus Attack_

* * *

**Tuesday - 31st December 2002**

* * *

_**:.**_** Real World - Japan, Odaiba, Kamiya Residence  
Taichi's Room  
**

**10:35 PM JST**

Taichi finally closed the door behind him, sighing. He had been anxious to get to his phone, but his parents had held him up on the pretext of having to explain why he had hidden the existence of Digimon from them. Taichi, however, was not in the mood for explanations. Luckily, they bought the excuse of him being exhausted from the day's events and allowed him the privacy of his own room. He jumped on his bed as he dialled Koushiro's number.

_"H-Hello?" _Koushiro's voice came after a few rings.

"Hi, Koushiro," Taichi called cheerfully, trying not to be disturbed by the fact that Koushiro's voice sounded totally unlike himself. "What's the matter?"

_"H-Hi, Taichi... um... maybe we should... I mean, maybe you should turn on your computer..."_

"Why?" Taichi asked, though he was already booting his desktop computer.

_"Maybe... you might want to take a look at the Internet before I say anything..."_ Koushiro's voice came in doubt. Taichi frowned. In the recent years, he had come to see Koushiro as far more confident. To be able to break him to this point, whatever Koushiro had discovered must have shocked him to the core. Taichi mentally prepared himself.

"The Internet, huh?" Taichi repeated, starting the explorer program. He had much more experience with computers compared with the time of the Diaboromon incident, now far more proficient with it. It helped that he could now touch type, which significantly increased his typing speeds, which he thought, might be necessary in this case.

_"Yes."_

A few seconds of silence passed as Taichi awaited anxiously for the program to start. This caused his imagination to go on overdrive, thinking up all kinds of odd and completely out of the world things. It only made him more nervous. Taichi mentally cursed his slow processor.

That was, until he saw the first thing that came up on his homepage.

His first instinct was to curse colourfully, but he remembered that Hikari and his parents were just next door. It would not be a very good example of an older sibling. So he resorted to yelp instead.

_"You see it, don't you?"_ Koushiro asked soberly.

Taichi proceeded however to continue pull away the phone from his mouth, and begin rattling those obscene curses mentally. Part of him was afraid that somehow Koushiro might be able to hear or that he would accidentally say it out loud. Neither happened. Taichi soon put the mouthpiece back at his mouth, and snarled with as little venom as he could. "Please tell me that I am not looking at what I think I'm looking, Koushiro."

_"I wish I could,"_ Koushiro's solemn reply came. _"Apparently, what's not on TV is everywhere on the Internet."_

"How did this happen?" Taichi asked, looking at one image after the other. They were everywhere and had suddenly become the topic of the day... and perhaps of the entire century. "I thought that nothing electrical was working when this was happening." _Cameras too..._

_"You see, Taichi,"_ Koushiro began to explain. _"When MaloMyotismon blacked out the world of all power, everything wasn't working... except the satellites up in orbit. They were still transmitting, just that there was nothing back on Earth that was online to receive their transmissions. However, some of them were still taking pictures of the world and all. Since they couldn't send it back to Earth, they stored it in their data banks."  
_

What Koushiro was saying made completely no sense to him, and even though his impatience was rising, he allowed Koushiro to continue. It was the latter's method of de-stressing... and besides, Taichi understood some parts of it. And Taichi did not like those parts one bit.

_"So,"_ Koushiro continued, going on a rant that could not be halted. _"Those images were extracted from the satellites, and some eager guy that manned the transfer or saw the photos must have uploaded these images after cropping to a more appropriate size, which is why you are seeing what you are seeing. Many of these images have been originally uploaded from an anonymous source a few hours ago, but is spreading quickly. I have no doubt that everyone has already seen one or more."_

Finally, Taichi had enough. "Koushiro, _please_ speak in a language I understand," He managed calmly, even though anxiousness and anger were just under it.

In a very simple sentence, Koushiro summarised everything he had said previously. He could not have made it clearer and more blunt. _"We are in trouble."_

In a simple word, Taichi summarised his own reaction to the statement. "_Great_," Taichi replied sarcastically, the only way he could prevent himself from losing control at his stupidity. It was so obvious, and he did not see it.

And this goes to show one thing... never trust the TV too much.

* * *

_**:.**_** Real World - Japan, Odaiba, Ishida Residence  
Yamato's Room  
**

**10:39 PM JST**

The phone rung, causing Yamato Ishida to groan. _Who could be calling? I was already half asleep..._

Nonetheless, Yamato dragged himself out of bed, sadly taking note Gabumon's absence. _It's only one day..._ Yet, Yamato felt that even a single day away from his partner was torture.

Of course, it was also torture to have to get up from a comfortable bed to answer a phone that was a few metres away. _Note to self, next time, put phone on bedside table._

After dragging himself out of bed, he pulled himself to the phone. Yamato cleared the sleep from his voice, hoping that it was not some crazed fan like Jun Motomiya calling him. _Here goes nothing... and everything._ "Hello, Ishida Residence, Yamato Ishida speaking..." His stomach just began to dread the response when...

_"Yamato?"_ A familiar voice came. _"It's Taichi." _Yamato hefted a sigh of relief, but knew that if Taichi had called personally instead of sending an email on his D-Terminal, this was serious.

"Taichi, what time is it? Shouldn't you be in bed?" Yamato asked, creating an opening for Taichi.

_"No, this is important,"_ the former gogglehead said, confirming his suspicions. Immediately, Yamato perked up.

"What is it? A Digimon attacking? Myotismon's coming back?! What?!"

Silence ensued, as though Taichi were thinking. _"No,"_ his voice finally said. _"Turn on your computer, Koushiro will tell you everything__. And call the others, only the old gang.__.."_

Yamato nodded, even though Taichi couldn't see it. "Alright, I'll take Sora."

_"Alright, I'll take Joe." _Taichi said after a slight hesitation. _"Koushiro is already calling Mimi."_

"Okay," Yamato answered, already turning on his own computer and picking up his cellphone. "Can you tell me anything about it?"

Another hesitation. _"You'll find out." _And then, Taichi hung up abruptly.

Yamato frowned, but called Sora.

"Hello? Sora?"

_"Yamato?"_ The redhead sounded furious._ "This had better be good, I-"_

"It is, we have trouble," Yamato said quickly, so that Sora's infamous temper wouldn't have a chance to flare. "Taichi just called."

_"Taichi?" _She asked. Yamato felt a stab of irritation, but pushed it away, even though he did not know what had caused it. _"What was it about?"_

"I don't know, but Taichi said to turn on your computer. That's it."

_"Alright, this had better be good, or Taichi will have a very bad day tomorrow for disturbing my sleep."_

Yamato chuckled, seeing that maturity still hadn't changed Sora too much. "Fine with me. Bye."

_"Bye,"_ Sora repeated, before hanging up herself.

Yamato allowed himself a few moments to smile, before returning his gaze back to his computer screen. The moment his Internet browser opened, Yamato jumped in his seat and swore loudly.

_"I can hear you from here, you know?"_

Another program soon opened to reveal Koushiro's face, set in a frown as well. Taichi's appeared beside Koushiro's in a separate window, both programs showing exactly what the person on the other side of the live camera was doing.

_"Yeah,_" The brown haired of the two agreed. _"And those aren't doing my ears any good,"_ Taichi joked.

"What is that?!"

_"What is probably the most public image of the Chosen Children ever to exist," _Taichi said, this time his voice became grim.

Sora's suddenly popped up, in with her hair messier than Yamato had ever seen it. Mimi soon appeared too, looking exactly as they all had seen her when she left, except for the fact that she looked like she would fall asleep anytime. Which was very logical seeing how it was supposed to be about 6am in the morning in the United States. Joe also appeared soon, face in the most anxious and worried expression the latter could muster. Yamato could practically hear Joe going on about how he 'told them this would happen', but the oldest Chosen did not utter a word.

_"So we are all here."_

* * *

_**:.**_** Real World - Japan, Odaiba, Kamiya Residence  
Hikari's Room  
**

**10:45 PM JST**

Of course, the older group was not the only one having a late night chat.

_Takeru: So guys, what are we going to do now that MaloMyotismon is gone? Go on another vacation?_

Hikari frowned, remembering the fight with Wallace's 'Kokomon' that had Digivolved to the point where they needed the Golden Armour forms of Veemon and Terriermon to stop him. That, and Taichi's and the old gang's kidnap. Hikari pushed the images of the fight against Kokomon away, typing in a reply.

Hikari: You're kidding right, Takeru? Remember what happened the last time? :(

Daisuke: Don't remind me... that Wallace guy sure makes me mad. He even kissed Hikari without MY CONSENT!!

Hikari shook her head and rolled her eyes.

Miyako: Oh, get over it, Daisuke. You're so immature sometimes...

Hikari shook her head yet again.

Ken: How come I have never heard of that before?

There was a slight pause, as Hikari remembered that Ken had not joined them for that particular trip. Takeru soon replied.

Takeru: Oh that's because you weren't in the group at that time. Sorry Ken.

Ken: It's alright... :)

Iori: Uh, guys, do you know what time it is? Shouldn't we actually be doing what we're pretending to be doing by now?

Daisuke: Oh come on, Iori, you're no fun!

Hikari felt herself yawn.

Hikari: Iori is right, guys. Let's discuss tomorrow.

Daisuke: Right! That is definitely the right thing to do!

Miyako: Daisuke... I'm rolling my eyes...

Takeru: :D

A smile appeared on her face as she read the contents of the chatroom.

Hikari: :)

Daisuke: Why is everyone laughing at me?!

Ken: Just go on to sleep, Daisuke.

Takeru: Right, night guys.

Hikari: Goodnight.

Iori: See you tomorrow.

Miyako: Same.

Ken: Right...

Then, after waiting a few more seconds.

Miyako: Where is Daisuke?!

Ken: Probably already asleep...

Miyako: ...

Hikari had to restrain her laughter. Daisuke sure was a fast one.

Hikari: Oh well, I guess we should do the same too. See you tomorrow guys.

With that, Hikari closed her D-Terminal, set it aside and turned the bedside lamp off. She rolled to a more comfortable position, her hand stretching out absent-mindedly to tap Gatomon on the head, only to realise her partner was still in the Digital World.

She sighed softly, completely unaware of what was unfolding in her brother's room next door, thinking about Gatomon. Already, she missed her partner. Hikari looked forward to the next day to see Gatomon again. In her mind's eye, she saw her partner rolling her blue eyes at the rather immature antics of her fellow Digimon. She smiled again, closing her eyes at last after the long day. She was exhausted.

As Gatomon's image faded, that of Takeru being on top of her earlier today came, causing her heart to quicken its pace a little before returning back to normal.

It was strange. This day was definitely special. It was not really because they were able to defeat MaloMyotismon, gather all the Chosen together for a single event or even at last not having to keep from her parents the existence of Digimon. The reason this day was special to her personally was because she finally opened her eyes...

To Takeru.

_It is strange really._ Hikari thought to herself. In her mind prior to this day, Takeru had always been her eight-year-old best friend. That was how she always viewed him. Even as they grew older, that had never changed. Even as Takeru became taller than her and no longer the same height.

Today, she finally realised that they were growing up, and that made her see Takeru in a new light. Hikari no longer saw him as the kid that she had befriended, but rather as the teenager he was. Independent and no longer the innocent little boy from the past.

_I suppose that I should have noticed this change back on the first day he came back._ Hikari thought. But then again, back then even though Takeru had changed, in her mind it was always the little Takeru that wore a green cap. She chuckled slightly, at that moment grateful that Gatomon wasn't present.

Her thoughts continued to dwell on Takeru, before exhaustion slowly took her and she slipped away into sleep.

Of course, she would not remember her thoughts when she woke up...

* * *

_**:.**_** Real World - Japan, Odaiba, Izumi Residence  
Koushiro's Room  
**

**10:45 PM JST**

_"So... what now?" _Mimi asked when he had finished his explanation.

Koushiro shook his head, a gesture that everyone saw due to the live feed video. "I really don't know guys, Gennai says he'll try to do something, but it is impossible to take back what's already out there. People have already seen the images. They already know. Unless we can find a way to create a mass memory wipe out, Digimon are now public.

_"Wait, I thought that the only images were of the Chosen Children?"_ Sora asked.

"No," he replied. "I found a few shots of the Digital World as well. Maybe the rip had been two way, with both those on Earth and those in space orbiting Earth also seeing the same thing, that's why the satellites managed to capture an image."

_"This is bad, guys..."_ Taichi said, frown visible on the screen. _"Who knows how everyone would react? Especially after MaloMyotismon and all the other bad guys?"_

_"What about the other Chosen Children? Surely they have seen this?" _Joe said.

Koushiro's eyes widened in realisation. "Of course! How could I forget?!" Quickly, he minimised some of the windows, and checked his email. The sheer number of emails from all the other Chosen was almost equal the number he had during the Diaboromon crisis. It was impossible to check them all, so he picked the first one.

Fortunately, he had a translator program for that language, allowing him to read it. What he read was not good. _They are confused..._ He concluded after reading a few more. This was really, really bad.

_"Koushiro! What's going on?!" _Yamato's voice exclaimed through his speakers.

Koushiro had half a mind to ask him to lower his volume when he realised what Yamato was talking about. His firewall had suddenly worked up, indicating there was a virus trying to breach his system. His improved firewall thanks to Gennai managed to halt it in its tracks. However, the others weren't so lucky. He watched as one by one the screens showing the others turned to static, indicating that they had disconnected. Koushiro knew that it was the virus causing this.

His first thought was: _Gennai._ But that did not tally. Gennai knew his computer's IP, and wouldn't be so crude as to probably shut down or disconnect every last person on the face of this Earth. _No, this is someone else's doing. But who?_

Another virus soon caught his attention, this one far more dangerous than the first. His firewall indicated that it had temporarily stopped the virus, but in a few minutes, the virus would overwhelm it and wreck havoc on everything inside his computer.

Koushiro could not let that happen. He tried to stop the virus, sending counter viruses and trying to back up the firewall with his own code. But whatever he did, the virus could not be stopped. Koushiro tried everything he knew, but nothing worked. He even tried to shut down, but the virus created a window to tell him that if he did, all the data he had would be formatted. So, shutting off the main power was not an option as if he did, the data in his computer's hard drive would likely be deleted. All of this wouldn't have mattered were it not for the fact that important programs like the Digimon Analyser was there.

In his panic to try and save the programs, the cold hard truth hit him like a brick. _There were two levels of attack, one for common people, and one for advanced computer maniacs like myself... _Whoever who had sent the virus wanted to make sure _everyone_ were hit. Those that resisted and stopped the first virus would be subject to the second, more deadly one, as those infected by the first would have already been disconnected or shut down.

_But, whoever who sent this virus may also try to... _Quickly, Koushiro pulled the plug, cutting off all power to his laptop, heedless of the virus's warning and the possible loss of data. He was glad that he had detached his battery to charge it using another adapter. Whoever who had sent the two viruses would perhaps be leeching on whatever he had in his hard drive. Otherwise, why would the virus warn him? Koushiro was glad he had seen it on time, otherwise whoever was the mastermind of the viruses _might_ have found out about his connection to the Digimon. It was better to be safe than sorry.

If he had been right and the person on the other end _had _been leeching on his hard drive, Koushiro just hoped that that person didn't get enough...

* * *

**Ah well. Now this chapter is done, at long last.**

**I will apologise for the long update. My Beta Reader Crazyeight had me re-watching the 02 episodes to confirm that Hikari had her own room. For those that wanted to check for the fun of checking, it is Episode 15.**

**Anyway, I would like to thank him nonetheless. I had practically forgotten about the computer batteries. Also, I would like to thank everyone for their compliments on the beginning of this fic. **

**And I agree with Rayana Walker on one thing: Something big is coming. And it is most definitely not just this virus... or the MIB for that matter. XD**

**So, review your thoughts... and prepare for the End of The (Digital) World (always wanted to say that, but not literally of course... yet).  
**


	4. Happy New Year's Eve

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own this plot and the entire series unless stated otherwise.

* * *

**Digimon Continuity**

_**Aftermath of 02**_

_Part One - The Government_

Chapter 4

_Happy New Year's Eve  
_

_

* * *

_**Tuesday - 31st December 2002**

* * *

_**:.**_** Real World – Japan, Odaiba, Kamiya Residence**

**Taichi's Room**

**10:48 PM JST**

_"Koushiro! What's going on?!"_ Yamato's usually calm voice came through panicked and alarmed. Taichi's screen abruptly began to flicker, something that didn't normally happen… unless he used force on it, which he currently wasn't doing. The images of his friends began to grow snowy, as Taichi tried to do something to fix the problem. Unfortunately, this was where his lack of computer expertise came in. He _didn't_ know what to do, so he turned to the one person who did.

"Koushiro!!"

Or at least… Taichi tried to. In the next instant, his computer shut down completely, leaving him staring blankly at the blank screen like he did during the other time. However, that was not the only thing. A few minutes later, the power cut off. Taichi blinked, knocking something over in his attempt to adjust to the sudden darkness of his room. His hands groped for the window, and he finally pulled the curtains apart to allow the dim light of the moon to seep into his room, illuminating enough of it for him to identify his surroundings once again. Taichi's face pulled itself into a frown. Power getting cut was something that most definitely did _not_ happen on New Year's eve…

_Wait, New Year's EVE! I completely forgot!!_ Taichi thought guiltily. In all the excitement of the day and the now newly arisen events, Taichi had forgotten to get Hikari the present he had planned. But right now, he pushed that out of his mind. He had other things he had to attend to, even if he had to do it only by moon and starlight.

He looked to his partner. It was seemed so impossible mere days ago; he had reunited with Agumon again in a very Merry Christmas. The New Year had looked equally bright.

_How wrong we were…_Taichi thought grimly. He briefly considered whether to awake Agumon, then thought against it, deciding only to do so in an emergency. Moving by the dim light, he made his way to his D-Terminal on the table, ignoring the phone that lay beside it, knowing that without power, the phone was just a useless device full of wires.

He opened the screen and was glad to see that his D-Terminal was still working… for now. Quickly, he sent a mass email to all the older Chosen (with the exception of Mimi, who was technically 'out of range'), still choosing not the wake the younger team until it was absolutely necessary. He had seen how tired Hikari was. She needed as much sleep as possible, as did the others.

_But doesn't this already qualify?_ The brown-haired teenager felt a slight chill travel up his back and shivered. No one had awoken even though the world was turning upside down around him. It was like he was alone in this world that knew what was going on, while others just slept through what was probably a national disaster. He wondered that if a bomb had stuck and killed them all that night, no one would have noticed. Realising what he was thinking, Taichi quickly shook his head to clear the grim thoughts, and waited for a response from the others.

The first one that came in was Sora's. She said in the email that her computer had strangely shut down as well, and soon after so had all her house's power. She told him in the email that her parents had also slept through this, while she was reluctant to light a candle for fear of burning down her wooden house.

Taichi read through the message from Sora again, feeling relief course through him. He didn't know why, but reading that Sora had the same 'troubles' that he had made the whole event more bearable. He quickly typed in a reply to have her activate the chatroom function that Miyako and Koushiro had worked to incorporate into all their D-Terminals, and waited patiently for all the others to send in a reply before emailing them to do the same.

Koushiro was the last person to reply to his email, but Taichi didn't know for sure that the resident genius was really 'prodigious' as the redhead had put it. That was one of the limitations of email. He could not see and hear for himself how the other side was really doing. Taichi decided to take Koushiro's word for it and sent him a final email to join the chatroom. By the time he himself had activated the function, he found that the others had already began without him.

Yamato: Sora? You all right?

That was the first thing Taichi saw and immediately felt a foreign feeling invade his mind. That feeling was like a monster seeking blood. Taichi pushed the emotion away to the deeper recesses of his mind, feeling as though he had been contaminated.

Sora: I'm fine.

Joe:_ What just happened?_

Yamato:_ I don't know, where's Koushiro?_

Taichi:_ I've sent him an email. He should be joining in soon._

Sora:_ Thank god, Taichi. What's going on?_

At Sora's post, Taichi had to push away yet another feeling that made him feel as though he could drown in it. The problem was, this feeling had an almost irresistible urge to make him _want_ to drown in it. It was only because he held on to the fact that this was something that he _mustn't_ feel that he was able to push it away… but not for long.

Taichi: _I don't know myself…_

Joe:_ I am worried, guys. This might really be something bad._

For once, Taichi felt Joe's anxiety justified. Even his seemingly limitless self-confidence wavered a little. Finally, at long last, Koushiro joined in and posted.

Koushiro:_ Sorry, guys. I don't know how to even begin to explain this and where to start._

Sora: You might want to start with what just happened that caused our computers and electricity to go down.

Taichi mentally agreed with Sora's suggestion. Koushiro took a while, typing in his message on the small D-Terminal.

Koushiro:_ It's… a little hard to explain. I believe that someone had launched a virtual attack that likely hit all of Japan. That person must have been very good to be able to take out the systems of power stations as well. Who knows what other kinds of things he hit? Military, government… you name it. The thing is, I don't know why they used one weaker virus and then a stronger one. The weaker one was the one that took shut down your computers. I really wonder…shouldn't they have simply wiped out everything with just the stronger one?_

Taichi considered this when he managed to understand all that Koushiro had said. The two viruses had attacked perhaps the entire of Japan, maybe more. It could have been a Digimon… but somehow, Taichi didn't think so.

Koushiro: And I don't think this is a Digimon attack, guys. If so, Gennai would have likely warned us. But one thing's for sure. This is big. This may be an attack by other countries on Japan, but with my computer likely damaged and the power currently out…I can't say anything for sure. This attack may very well be blamed on the Digimon.

Taichi read and reread what Koushiro had posted. Blamed on the Digimon?! That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!! However, in his heart, he knew it to be far too likely. After all, the world had just very nearly faced the Apocalypse… not to mention about the images that Koushiro had discovered.

Taichi soon read the next sentence.

Koushiro: This may be the beginnings of a new war, guys… a literal **World War**. A war between the Digital World and Earth…

_**

* * *

**_

_**:.**_** Real World – Japan, Odaiba, Motomiya Residence**

**Daisuke's Room**

**10:53 PM JST**

Daisuke tossed and turned, trying to find a comfortable position. He was so exhausted that he should have fallen asleep the instant he hit the bed. But strangely enough, he felt that he was… missing something. Something that prevented him from just dozing off like he usually did.

That something was, of course, DemiVeemon. Without the little guy, Daisuke felt as though he wasn't wearing his skin or something of the like. He had gotten used to the In-Training's snores to lure him to sleep. Without it, his room seemed awfully silent.

Now I know what's it like to be separated from your Digimon… Daisuke thought. It is amazing that Hikari and Taichi managed it… not to mention Takeru too. He mused.

Now his thoughts moved to Hikari. He recalled her expression during the battle against MaloMyotismon, when he convinced the Dark Spored children to push aside their doubts. She had been astonished at his 'wise' words at first, then admiration when his words managed to convince the Dark Spored children. The others as well. Now, as he reflected on it, he knew that at that moment, they had truly thought of him as their leader properly, not just jokingly. That was the moment that he had truly earned their respect.

Ah… today is a good day. Daisuke thought in satisfaction. Maybe after today, Hikari will finally accept when I ask her out!!

A smile blossomed on his face as he fanaticised about 'the perfect date'. He would bring her to the movies, take her to a nice place to eat, and then walk her home… and perhaps somehow kiss her at some point. His heart accelerated at that thought and his grin grew wider.

It was really easy for his imagination to visualise the whole thing, not to mention that the now comfortable position he was in made it feel as though he were in an embrace. It helped that he was still tingly from the sensation of saving the world too.

In short, he was in the heaven of semi-consciousness… at long last.

In this state, however, one can sometimes find oneself thinking things that they don't usually do. Things that range from that are sometimes completely random… and at times, irrational.

His mind fast-forwarded through his imaginary relationship with Hikari to the point of their 'wedding', influenced by his half-asleep mind, which wasn't thinking properly at the moment. He imagined Taichi smiling at him giving him the thumbs-up. He imagined Takeru being his-

_Scratch that…_ Daisuke thought, his mind balancing delicately between the worlds of waking and sleeping. Takeru is most definitely not going to do. _Maybe Iori would do better… _

So, replacing Takeru's image with Iori, his mind continued down the road… imagining Hikari in a white dress…

Then, Daisuke recalled something. Something so important that he couldn't believe that he had forgotten it.

_Oh yeah! Today's New Year's Eve!!_ His mind reminded him, though it lacked any urgency whatsoever. _I have to get Hikari our wedding gift!_ Normally, had Daisuke been in the right frame of mind, the thoughts making their way through his head would not even occur. But semi-consciousness does strange things to someone…

His body did not react to his mind's commands to get up and get the 'wedding gift', which would be just a New Year's gift had he been in his right mind.

The only thing he got when he gave a half-hearted attempt to awake himself was a yawn. His reluctance to leave his comfortable, soft and warm bed to get up increased as he closed his mouth. Sleepily, Daisuke managed enough to turn his eyes on the clock, finding it only 11pm. Now, that reluctance increased yet again, as he stifled yet another yawn. Daisuke chose to lie back down as the temptations of continuing to fantasise pulled at him as well.

_Never mind… I'll just close my eyes for a tiny while…Get that plan for the wedding right…And… and…_He struggled to remember what it was he wanted to say as his mind continued to edge towards the realms of sleep. _And wake up…and make it up to her…tomorrow… just a while…_

Daisuke would have thanked himself that he was asleep at last… had he been in the right frame of mind.

Of course, he would not remember ever having these thoughts when he awakens…

_**

* * *

**_

_**:.**_** Real World – Japan, Odaiba**

**11:25 PM JST**

"Yamato," Taichi greeted as he reached the meeting place, a playground in the park, which needed no illumination other than the stars and the moon.

He flashed his torch around, one that he had managed to find in the darkness of his home with the help of the light of his D-Terminal. He did not awake Hikari or his parents to notify them about his little 'outing'. He did not wish to bring worry to any of them until he had confirmed things.

Not to mention I don't want to trouble them about the possibility of a war between the Real and Digital Worlds. Taichi thought grimly. Mom and Dad are still accepting the thing about the Digimon and the Digital World even existing! Hikari would also be crushed by this news. She had always wanted humans and Digimon to live together some day.

"Taichi," Yamato replied, flashing his own torchlight Taichi's way to confirm him. Taichi saw several of the others look up. It appeared he was the last one.

The guys were clustered together in the brightest spot within the area, which was not very bright at all tonight due to the clouds obstructing the moon. Joe, far more nervous than he would usually be, was practically bouncing on the bench he sat on, seated next to Sora, who was fidgeting with her skirt. Koushiro and Yamato were standing, with Koushiro was frantically typing away at his computer. All stopped whatever they were doing and looked up to see him approach.

He could see that they had resisted asking Koushiro any questions until he had arrived, so that Koushiro wouldn't have to repeat. For that, he was grateful.

"So… we can get this started," Taichi announced.

The others nodded solemnly, but none seemed inclined to be the first to say anything. Eyes darted to look anywhere but each other. Taichi waited patiently, but when it was clear that this uncomfortable silence was not going to end, he spoke up.

"So what do we do now?"

Koushiro looked down at the screen of his computer before replying. "I don't know, Taichi. I never expected this to happen. I have planned for the possibility of Digimon being leaked to the world… but I had only planned for the small doses. I never expected all the events with the Digimon being revealed to the world like this… though I should have after Myotismon's…" Koushiro halted, blinking and realising that he was getting carried away.

"I guess… I'm trying to say I'm sorry for not anticipating this."

Taichi walked over and laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. "It's not your fault. Not even someone like you can predict this."

Koushiro shook his head, but said nothing else.

"Now," Yamato began. "We have to find out what's really going on. Koushiro?"

Koushiro sighed. "I'm sorry to say that I had no choice but to format my entire hard drive. So, the Analyser is gone," he told them with a frown. "Contacting Gennai right now is out of the question too. I may have to make a trip to the Digital World to ask Gennai for the programs again, not to mention tell him about this. But…" He paused, looking at all of them one at the time. "… I think that whoever who sent that virus managed to get a bit of the Digimon Analyser too, though I don't know how much. It may be enough to trace us to the Digimon… And now, seeing how they have seen how much of a threat Digimon can be…" He let the sentence hang in the air.

"The future doesn't look too bright," Joe said, looking down at his feet.

"We can't think like that guys," Taichi encouraged. "There has to be a way. We just have to show the world that Digimon are good guys! Only a few are bad after all."

Sora smiled at him and Yamato nodded.

"Look guys!" Sora pointed out, being the first to notice that in a distance, lights finally began to flicker back on as the power returned. They turned to watch the park's lights flicker on a slight distance away. It was perfectly timed. Taichi felt hope surge through him. It was as though the heavens agreed with him.

"That can't be!!" Koushiro's exclamation echoed through the trees that surrounded them.

Taichi immediately turned to his friend. "What?! What happened?!"

Koushiro blinked rapidly. "I can't find it!"

"Find what?!" Yamato asked, his tone sharing Taichi's anxiety.

"It's gone…" Koushiro said, shaking his head, completely oblivious to their questions. "It's just… gone…"

"What's gone?!" Joe was the one asking this time. Taichi felt as though he was going to explode with all the tension that was building up. He already said the Analyser was gone, so that can't be it…

Koushiro finally looked up. "The images… it's not there anymore. The forums that talked about it look as though they never existed…"

"You say like that's a bad thing."

"It is…"

"In what way?" Yamato asked.

"I-" Koushiro looked doubtful, as though even he himself didn't believe what he was going to say. "I initially thought that Gennai had been the one who removed everything from the Internet."

"Can he even do that?" Taichi interrupted, astounded.

"I… think so…" Koushiro said doubtfully. "But I don't think that he would do this without asking me what I thought of it, so it can't be him. But that means that somewhere out there… there is someone with the power to do this… remove everything without a trace.

"What does this mean?" Sora asked.

"I don't know guys… I really don't know… It could mean that another Digital being, one like Gennai is behind this, or maybe even one of his 'clones'. But I don't know…"

A second later, the unknown launcher of the virus was the least of Taichi's problems.

An immense flash dominated Taichi's vision, making his head hurt and his vision to turn white. Taichi lost his balance and fell hard onto the ground. He heard one of the others exclaim something in surprise. He blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to clear away the whiteness.

However, it only made things worst. He saw his friends fall to the ground one by one, as if in slow motion. His vision began to deteriorate, not get better. Instead of white, now black ate at the sides of his vision. Slowly, painstakingly, it overwhelmed him as his fingers discovered a shaft sticking out from his chest.

Taichi managed to pull it out and hold it to his fading eyesight long enough to recognise it.

It was a dart.

A sharp pain that seemed slightly dulled shot from his body as darts struck home. The pain was fading, as well as his vision. He could only see the stars in the night sky.

Then, the stars winked out as well and Taichi felt no more.

* * *

**Well, that's one new chapter up.**

**Alright, thanks go to ****Arsinen,****ThatsWhatSheSaid07, ****Rayana Wolfer****, ****Courage Sun****, SugarSpiral**** and Matt Lans for reviewing. I also thank Crazyeight for Beta Reading.**

**Right, now I finally get to have some fun. Review!  
**


	5. Other Perspectives

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own this plot and the entire series unless stated otherwise.

* * *

Digimon Continuity

_**Aftermath of 02  
**__**Part One – The Government**_

Chapter 5

_Other Perspectives_

_

* * *

_

**Tuesday – 31st of December 2002**

**

* * *

**

_**:.**_** Real World – Somewhere in Japan**

**11:00 AM JST**

Two men, one whose hair was greying and one who looked like he was in his early forties, sat at opposite ends of a conference table, staring each other down in a room empty save for them. The room the two men were in was Spartan, holding only the conference table and chairs. The walls were barren, painted white and maintained so diligently that there was not even a spot of discolouring.

Neither man moved nor took his eyes off the other. Black into cerulean, cerulean into black. Both postures were straight; one due to military training while the other was due to political experience. Both suits could have practically shone with how dirt-free they were. This seemed to be a battle of wills, with the presence and aura of both filling the entire room, competing for space. Neither was going to make the first move, for making the first move was akin to giving in to the other in a game both were professionals in… unless you had a very good reason.

"Well? I presume we are meeting because your network has discovered something in relation to the _event_ several hours ago? Or was I mistaken?" Prime Minister Ichiro Kozumi finally asked the black-haired man. He was getting impatient and wasting more time was not an option. There were other things that he had to attend to as his position required as such. And there was still the fact that he was eager to return to his family to make up for not being with them to celebrate the New Year.

The other man's face broke into a rare smile as his posture relaxed and he nodded. "I was wondering how long you were planning to play that little game of yours… and wondering how good I was getting at it."

Ah… well… and perhaps that Ichiro was simply playing a friendly game of 'stare off' with his good friend Yoshio Omori.

"Very good… I am getting old…" Ichiro sighed. He was secretly relieved to be able to hold this conversation, as the familiarity of such idle chatter de-stressed him from the whole surreal situation that Japan was in. He was glad, even for a moment, not to discuss the state affairs and simply talk with his good friend, without the presence of ministers and reporters and whatnot.

Yoshio chuckled. "Well, technically you are. All these 'incidents' are not much help to the heart either, aren't they?"

"No…" Ichiro admitted before his voice took a serious tone. It seemed that this little chat was over, indicated by Yoshio's subtle push of topics towards what had occurred in Japan not hours ago. "But enough chit chat I suppose. It is down to business."

"Yes," Yoshio said, his tone taking a business-like tone as well, his back straightening. "Truth be told, I have no idea how to describe this day. Is it the best or worst day for the lives of all of us? Everyone in every intelligence agency in the world is going to be working overtime tonight, that's for sure. The CIA, MI6, Naichō… you name it."

"Being the head of Naichō is a pain right now, isn't it?" Ichiro sympathised.

The other man nodded, allowing himself a drink from the cup next to him, preparing to convey big news.

The Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office or the **Nai**kaku Jōhō **Chō**sashitsu in Japanese, aka Naichō, was the Japanese version of the said intelligence agencies. It was Japan's CIA or MI6. It was natural, in the time of a global crisis that involved the shut down of every single machine in the world from a simple or clock to the supercomputers of every country that possessed them, for a Prime Minister to seek the head of his intelligence agency to see what had the means to do as such.

"Yeah," Yoshio said, frowning. "We never even saw it coming… Whoever who managed to pull off the 'Blackout' is one heck of a miracle worker, in the bad sense. There is no trace whatsoever of how anyone managed to pull this off…"

Ichiro could not hide his surprise. Little would escape the hidden eyes of Naichō. Being the most technologically advanced country in the world thus made sure that there were things that Naichō held that not even its British and American counterparts did not have. Naichō, to Ichiro's knowledge, could effectively dig its way into any database in the world. A plot to wipe out all machines in the world would stand out like a sore thumb.

"But…" Yoshio continued, his tone suddenly uncertain. "A piece of information has come to my attention… and I have not known what to make of it, deciding to bring it to you before I make any decisions as to what to do next."

Ichiro was caught off guard again, but he managed to hide the surprise compiled with the growing sense of dread at where his friend's words were headed. While Yoshio had his moments, it was completely unlike Yoshio to be uncertain about _anything_. And even if he _was_ uncertain, it was not in his nature to show it. Yoshio was also a quick-witted and decisive person, able to make decisions even in the middle of chaos itself. The very fact that he was acting the absolute opposite of his usual self showed him how deeply unsettled Yoshio was, and that alone made Ichiro dread his friend's next words.

Yoshio brought out a briefcase from under the table, which struck Ichiro as another oddity, as Yoshio usually had someone else do the grunt work of carrying the briefcase. It either meant that this was strictly hush-hush or that Yoshio wanted a very private session with him.

Or it could mean both… Ichiro thought.

The briefcase opened to reveal a set of documents in a folder, some he could see that were dog-eared at the edges, others crisp and new as though they had just come out from the printer.

"What is this?" Ichiro asked as Yoshio slid the whole folder over to him. He opened it, reading the title of '1999 Phenomenon'.

"An old folder I dug out from three years ago. You do recall something similar like this occurring in Japan at that time, do you?"

"No really," Ichiro admitted. While recalling that something _did_ happen in 1999, his memory of it was hazy, forgotten in the troubles of the recent years regarding Japan's political situation, both foreign and domestic. "What is it about?"

Yoshio took a deep breath and then began to tell him about the 'incident' in Odaiba, how the digitised information gathered about it seemed to vanish without a trace when they wanted to investigate it. "Only the information in black and white remained," Yoshio finished.

"Hmm… do you think someone might have... removed it? On the orders of the previous Prime Minister?" Ichiro considered, wondering what the previous Prime Minister actually knew about the incident, but could not question him even if Ichiro wanted to as he was no longer of this world.

"Perhaps… but we can never confirm that, can we?"

"No," Ichiro shook his head, closing his eyes to think. "But if he _had_, he had done so for a reason. And that reason is what I want to find out."

"But there are already some leaks in the Internet… do we do what was done the last time when an incident like this happened?"

Ichiro shook his head. "We shouldn't. If we do, it'll only put much more attention to it. If we leave it alone, it will simply fade and disappear like the last time."

"But the last time, any kind of hard evidence had 'disappeared'. And furthermore, the last time was only limited to Japan alone. Now, it is global and evidence of these… kids, are everywhere," Yoshio noted, showing him one of the more recent photos cropped from a satellite image.

"Hmm…"

Ichiro thought hard. It was a difficult decision to make. On one hand, they could possibly have a national secret of sorts out there. On the other…

Ichiro sighed. _It is times like these that I wish I wasn't Prime Minister… but if it is true that the previous Prime Minister had ordered the 'removal' of most if not all the information regarding 1999…_ Ichiro rubbed his temples. _I suppose I will have to _assume_ that this is so and do the same… but…_

"Okay, Yoshio," Ichiro began, a plan already forming in his mind. "I want you to do something about those images and other 'hard evidence'. I want it done as soon as possible." Yoshio nodded. "But I want a piece of everything that you can find about this. I want to find out why the previous Prime Minister – if he did do it – did what he did. Do you think that is possible?"

Yoshio nodded again. "It is very possible. Fortunately, we have a virus that should be sufficient for this task, two actually. I had been planning to unleash these viruses if the USA should ever pose a threat to us again, the perfect way to prevent any ideas about hitting us again with nuclear bombs…"

Ichiro's eyes narrowed. "Let me guess… you want to hit two birds with one stone, right?"

Yoshio shrugged with an expression of innocence on his face.

Ichiro waved his hand in dismissal. "I never heard your plan. But one more thing… I want you to also try and 'extract' these kids for me," Ichiro said. "I want to find out what they know. Please make sure that they are comfortable during their stay… in whichever safe house you choose."

"Consider it done," Yoshio smiled as he took his leave.

* * *

**Wednesday – 1st of January 2003**

**

* * *

**

_**:.**_** Digital World – Server Continent**

**12:00 AM JST**

Two beings stood in a secluded area in the Digital World, both so drastically different from the other that one would wonder what could have brought the two together for such a chat. Alas, there were none in the area as the two kept their gaze on the other, listening to the sounds of the world around them as in another world, the clock struck midnight and half the world celebrated the start of a New Year, some only half-heartedly.

One of the beings looked like a young human adult, wearing a robe that was not the dress of normal humans in these modern days. While his face looked young, all one had to do was look into his eyes to reveal his true age was much, much older. His eyes revealed things that no human adult had ever seen before and a wariness in them that could only be matched with his incredible age.

The other being, floating in the air, was far larger than the being who stood on the ground. His translucent and cerulean body was curled like a snake's to minimise the space needed to hold him, his long body at their full length able to encompass the entire of the area that the two were in. Orbs of light orbited his body, three fingered claws opening and closing as though gripping an invisible enemy's throat. Chains surrounded his body as well, giving the impression that he was somehow restrained in a way. A great white beard worthy of an ancient wizard filled the majority of this being's face, his four eyes on the other being before him, who stood his ground in the face of such a magnificent and next to horrifying beast without even flinching.

Alas, the digital beings Gennai and Azulongmon finally initiated conversation.

"It is done, Azulongmon. The Chosen Children have defeated MaloMyotismon and vanquished the darkness, leaving our world in peace again," Gennai began with a small smile, before his expression turned uncertain. "But it seems that they are encountering several problems in their world…" He sighed as he recalled his earlier conversation with the Chosen of Knowledge.

Someone was tinkering with the information released, but it was someone not from this world. That was the strange thing. The Chosen of Knowledge had 'signed off', as the humans said it, telling Gennai that the former would investigate into this.

"A pity they are not able to rest after that battle, not even able to enjoy a good night's rest…"

Azulongmon was silent for a few moments, causing Gennai to snap out of his thoughts concerning the situation in the Chosens' world and turn his attention on the Holy Beast. Gennai was beginning to wonder what was obviously plaguing the dragon when the latter spoke.

"I fear you are mistaken in your first statement, Gennai…" The said digital being began to see twinges of a frown begin to form on Azulongmon's features. "The darkness is far from vanquished. In fact, it seems to be getting even _stronger_."

There was no hiding the look of surprise that sprouted on Gennai's face. "But how can that be so?" he inquired, wiping away the surprise from his expression as best he could. "No beings that threaten the Digital World remain. MaloMyotismon is gone. Even the possible threat of BlackWarGreymon is no longer existent. Wasn't that why you agreed to bestow the power of one of your Digital Cores to the Chosen Children? So that they could wipe out the threats?"

"Unfortunately, Gennai, I believe this is no longer as simple as we anticipated. Yes, it is true that no beings, digital or otherwise, threaten the Digital World for now. But the darkness is still there, even the destruction of MaloMyotismon and BlackWarGreymon has not made any effect on the rate the darkness is gaining strength. I believe now that MaloMyotismon and BlackWarGreymon are just pawns of a chess game that we did not know that we were playing. The rising of darkness is an independent event all on its own. Not at all influenced by Myotismon in his spirit form at all like we had thought. This changes things dramatically. I am beginning to think that it is _it_."

Gennai stiffened at the tone that Azulongmon used when he said the last word. _It can't be… he does not mean…_ "Impossible… Wasn't all this the plan of Myotismon to revive himself? Is it possible that it is simply another dark being rising soon?" _It can't be it… it _must not_ be…_

"It is," Azulongmon said enigmatically, though Gennai knew exactly what Azulongmon was talking about. "I fear that _it_ is beginning to start."

"How can it be? After so long a time of peace has reigned… why now?"

"I do not know, Gennai. I only know that it is in relation to the destruction of the Seven Destiny Stones. When BlackWarGreymon destroyed the Stones, who did not know the consequences of his actions, he had unknowingly affected the balance."

"But the seeds," Gennai interrupted. "They have restored the balance in the Digital World, thus preventing it from collapsing on itself."

"Yes, it is true that the seeds have restored the balance, but _only_ in the Digital World. The balance in other worlds remains unchecked."

Azulongmon need not continue for Gennai to know the implications of what he was saying.

"How do we stop it? Is there a way that we can summon the Chosen again to combat this?"

Azulongmon shook his head. "There is no stopping it, not if the prophecy is true. Summoning the Chosen Children would not be wise as well. They will not be able to combat that which they cannot see. They are not good at fighting at the enemies that only exist within their hearts. Give it a material form, and they will defeat it. Leave it as a non-material form, and they will undoubtedly lose. You know that as well as I do. That is why we are here, Gennai. We are the ones who fight the battle that they cannot, and they the ones _we_ cannot."

Gennai grind his teeth as Azulongmon explained. Everything that the Dragon of the East said was truer than he wanted to believe. First of all, the prophecy that Azulongmon spoke of was most definitely true. Gennai knew it in his heart the first moment he had read it. It was the most ancient of all prophecies, believed to have originated at the very beginning of the Digital World itself. It was the prophecy of the End of Digital World, the Armageddon. It was funny at the time to think that the beginning of the Digital World had prophesied the Digital World's end, but it was true. And so was the part about the Chosen Children, with only a rare few exceptions.

The prophecy predicted the start of a Dark Age. Evil beings, both new and ancient, would return and take control over the Digital World. They were prophesised to bring an end to the era of peace that dominated the Digital World now. But that was not the worst bit. It was that with the coming of a dark era, the Chosen of Light would cease to exist, and a new Child of Darkness would take her place. The prophecy also dictated that when that happened, more would fall to darkness and turn corrupt.

_And only one person will be the most important in determining whether the darkness reigns or whether good will rebound and defeat the darkness yet again… but I wish I knew who… Everything depends on this person…_

This prophecy was common knowledge in the ranks of evil. It was one of the reasons why all of them did what they did. Because it was said that the one who brought about this dark era would be the ruler of the Digital World if the darkness reigned.

Gennai brought his thoughts back the conversation, not wanting to think of what would happen if the darker possibility that the prophecy predicted came true. These were times when he wished that prophecies regarding the fate of the Digital World existed.

"Then what do we do now? Do we start taking precautions?"

Azulongmon nodded gravely. "It is the best we can do now."

"Then what of the Chosen?"

The gaze of Azulongmon's four eyes turned away. "We say nothing of this to them. Until the time is right…"

"But how do we know if the time is right?"

Azulongmon's eyes narrowed but he did not answer.

* * *

**I suppose my updates are taking longer and longer… so I apologise to all.**

**I have chosen in this chapter to deviate from the Chosen Children and do the point of views of others, thus the chapter's name. **

**Review.**


	6. Minutes to Midnight

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own this plot and the entire series unless stated otherwise.

* * *

**Digimon Continuity**

_**Aftermath of 02**_**  
**_**Part One – The Government**_

Chapter 6

_Minutes to Midnight_

* * *

**Tuesday – 31st December 2002**

* * *

_**:**_**. Real World – Unknown **

**11:59 PM JST**

"Urgh..."

"Taichi? You awake?"

The first thing Taichi Kamiya noticed was that he was on a soft bed, which appeared to be placed lengthwise to a wall on his right as his hand encountered a smooth surface as he struggled to force his eyes open. Finally, he succeeded, bringing a white ceiling to his vision. However, the blinding light seared into his retinas, and immediately forced him to shut them again as he clenched his teeth, enduring the pain of a very new and very painful headache.

When it finally subsided and Taichi's eyes had adjusted to the intensity of the light, he finally opened his eyes again to see Joe smiling into his face. His mind went blank for a moment as he tried to figure out what he was doing here in these unfamiliar surroundings when the memory of the past few hours hit him like a truck.

He sat up so suddenly that his headache returned in painful force and he nearly headbutted Joe, causing him to clench his head as he dropped back down to the soft bed which he had been lying on again, staying in a foetus position for a few moments. While terrible pain still occupied the majority of his mind, he dimly heard someone call his name in anxiety and touch his arm.

At last, the headache faded once again into a more bearable throb. This time, he forced himself to remember what had happened slowly, so as not to instigate yet another headache.

_The last thing I remember was..._ Taichi visualised a dart in his hand. _...but... what happened?_

Then, he remembered that someone was calling his name and shaking him in worry. Taichi then slowly and carefully balanced himself on one elbow before sitting up once more and leaning against the wall on his right, shaking his head a little and testing how bad his headache was, before, satisfied, he finally looked up.

Joe was smiling at him. "You don't look so good, Taichi," he said in relief. "Your head okay?"

"No," Taichi grimaced. "It hurts like someone kicked me instead of the ball for a penalty shot."

"Oh yeah," another familiar voice said exasperatedly, though somehow keeping cool at the same time while the faintest traces of worry faded. "He's all right."

Taichi glanced over Joe's shoulder to find Yamato shaking his head and chuckling. Taichi grinned as well. "Nice to see you're all right too, Yamato, Joe."

"Finally," a feminine voice stated, though there was a slight hint of hardness more found in a guy than a girl in the tone. Yet, he could also hear a smile in the girl's voice. Taichi allowed a smile in return as he turned to face her, standing slightly behind Joe. It looked like Sora was all right too. "It was about time you said something that made sense. You've been blabbing incoherently for the past few minutes. I never knew you talked in your sleep, Taichi," Sora said teasingly, her smile widening a little.

Joe then sat down at the foot of the bed that Taichi was now sitting on, with Yamato taking a spot at the head of the bed.

"Glad to see everyone's all right," Taichi said, looking around and inspecting the room he and his friends were in. "But, I don't think I heard Koushiro..."

His friends shook their heads and pointed to one side of the entirely plain white room, where Koushiro Izumi lay on another bed, breathing deeply but still clearly unconscious.

"I think he is going to take the longest to wake up, Taichi," Joe said, sighing. "He is much smaller than all of us and I think they gave us quite a bit of tranquilizer. But the worst part is, they took away our Digivices."

In a panic, Taichi patted himself down to realise that his Digivice was indeed missing. He also could not find all his other possessions save for the clothes on his back.

"Don't bother Taichi," Sora said, shaking her head. "They took away everything else too. We can't call anyone or do anything at all."

Yamato nodded in response. "Yeah, I've also tried looking for a way out, but other than that door over there," Yamato jerked his thumb towards the opposite side of where Koushiro lay, which had a door much like those one saw on submarines, though there was no valve on this side of the door. "There is no way out. I would have tried the vents, but those are too small to even consider." Yamato pointed to the top of the room, where there were four vents near the ceiling on each wall of the room. They certainly looked pretty small. Taichi thought perhaps that he would only fit in only if he were still at the age of eleven. Or maybe not even then.

Grateful that his friends were telling him this, but still confused, Taichi frowned. "I see... but why are we even here in the first place? I mean, last I remember, we were hit by darts and then I blacked out."

Yamato and Joe glanced to Sora, who said, "I thought I saw some military people come out of the bushes holding guns and shouting something before I blacked out too. But I can't be sure, I mean, it was not very bright in the first place and they sort of blended into the shadows, so they were kinda hard to see."

Yamato took over from there. "What I don't get is why we would be attacked in the first place. I mean, it is not like we were connected to the Blackout or anything, right?"

Taichi had a feeling that Yamato had been waking for him to wake up to say that, but he could see that even as Yamato said it, the realisation of why they were captured begun to dawn on all of them.

"Do you think... that what Koushiro said... about a war... was right?" Joe asked hesitantly, apparently having the same idea all of a sudden.

Sora hugged herself. "I hope not... I mean... I can't even _imagine_ that, and what Koushiro said still gives me goosebumps." She rubbed her arms in emphasis.

"Come on guys," Taichi said in forced cheerfulness. "Let's not jump to conclusions. If Koushiro was awake, I'm sure he'll tell us to wait until whoever who caught us talked to us first. After all, he had to have caught us for a reason, right?"

Yamato nodded gravely. "All right, Taichi. Still, why us? I mean, it is not like they... oh..."

Taichi grimaced again. "They know, Yamato," Taichi deadpanned, before choosing to change his words a little so that it didn't seem so harsh. "They _probably_ know who we are."

"B-But," Joe stammered. "That can't be! Even with the pictures Koushiro showed us, it still does not justify our... our..."

"Kidnapping?" Sora offered.

"Yeah! Our..." Joe's shoulder's sagged and he seemed to shrink into himself.

"What's wrong, Joe?" Sora asked in worry, while Yamato, who had drifted into a thoughtful daze, snapped out of it and turned to Joe.

"I... I just realised something," Joe said, his body tense and his face pale.

"Come on, Joe, spit it out already," Taichi said impatiently.

"Well... we're kidnapped, right?" Joe began. "All because someone found out we are linked to the Digital World and wants us for a reason, right?"

"I'm not seeing where this is going, Joe," Yamato said, frowning. Taichi shared his expression.

"Well, since we're kidnapped... they don't have to let us free..." Joe said at last, getting straight to the point.

Taichi and Yamato both stiffened, while Sora had to choke back a gasp. Clearly, all three of them had been thinking only of why they were kidnapped, and not the consequences of the kidnap itself.

_So... what now?_ Taichi wondered, turning absentmindedly to face the door, wishing he could see through the door to the other side just like he wished he could see through all that happened to find out what on earth was going on.

As though his wish were being granted, the door began to creak and cracked open...

Just as, in the distance, a clock struck midnight...

* * *

_**:**_**. Digital World – Server Continent**

**11:59 PM JST**

At last, the chaos and mayhem was over and peace had finally settled upon the little area around the valley in which MaloMyotismon had been at last defeated. No more explosions. No more destruction of the peaceful atmosphere by protests and violent rugby tackles. Now, there was at last silence, only broken by the snores of various digimon.

_Ah, silence is indeed golden. _Gatomon thought as she quoted a phrase she had heard back in the Human World. Her aching ears were at last allowed to rest as well, after painfully enduring all the noise caused by the other digimon playing a simple game of tag. This was probably one of the few times when her sensitive ears worked against her. She was glad that they no longer had to endure any more torture.

She viewed the scene around her, filled with digimon who had fallen asleep on their feet (some literally) after a long day of saving the world and celebrating saving the world. Gatomon allowed herself a smile as her eyes fell upon a bunch of digimon hurdled together for comfort.

Gatomon then shook her head as she yawned. It had indeed been a long day. It was almost exactly like how it was all those years ago when they had finally defeated Apocalymon. Except, this time, they no longer had to wave their partners goodbye and face the possibility that they would never see each other again.

That was probably one of the best parts about this time.

This was also probably why the digimon of the original Chosen had allowed themselves to cut loose and go all out to have fun, unlike last time when they all sat moodily after their partners left, unable to join in the celebrations of the rest of the world. Though Gatomon did not join the rest in their rowdy game of tag, claiming that it was too crude for her more mature ways, she also cut loose in her own way. Despite that today, they all could not join their partners to enjoy the victory, it was all right in Gatomon's opinion. After all, they were going to be meeting again tomorrow. What was the difference of a single day?

Gatomon rested her head on her paws and watched the Digital World's sky, so vastly different from the Real World's yet so similar as well. She envisioned Hikari's face and the stars seemed to arrange themselves into a constellation that showed her. Gatomon smiled once more. _Yes, it truly is great that we no longer have to be apart from our partners like last time anymore. _

Still, this separation from their partners was also able to serve another purpose to Gatomon. This way, she was able not to take for granted the bond between her and Hikari. This way, she was reminded of the times when she had to face the world alone once again without Hikari by her side. At that time, she had thought she had lost all her purpose when Hikari had gone away. All she had left then was the whistle that was given to her by Hikari, and she continued to blow it over and over again whenever she felt lonely and was always comforted by the sound. With that, she had managed to hold on to the hope that Hikari would one day return.

_Ah... the good old days..._

She wished now that she had the whistle with her, if just to feel its presence around her neck again. But, Gatomon felt that the whistle was better back in Hikari's hands again. After all, the whistle seemed to represent a piece of Hikari, a piece that Gatomon had kept with her till they met again. It was only right that that piece was part of Hikari once more, part of the whole.

_Ah, my thoughts are jumping all over the place. _Gatomon reflected. It was probably due to how her body was at last giving in to the fatigue.

Somewhere in the Real World, the clock that showed the time for Japan struck midnight.

At the same time, Gatomon abruptly felt a chill run through her body, its icy touch startling her and causing her to start awake. Instincts took over and she jumped to her feet, her eyes darting around, trying to pierce the darkness of the night while her ears strained for the sounds of anything out of the ordinary.

But all she saw were sleeping digimon and all she heard were their snores. There was nothing in sight that could have given her that chilly feeling.

It felt... as though she were in the Dark Ocean once more...

Gatomon shivered, more from the memory than anything. Her eyes darted through the darkness once more, scanning the area again. There was still nothing to be suspicious about. Not even a digimon that was awake.

Something felt wrong, but it was not here. No, the trouble was somewhere else...

_But we have already defeated MaloMyotismon, what else can there be?_

Only the snores of the digimon answered her unspoken question.

* * *

_**:**_**. Real World – Japan, Odaiba  
Kamiya Residence**

**11:59 PM JST**

There was a peaceful silence in the halls of the apartment of a certain family of Kamiyas. There were none in the residence that were awake, with none aware of the absence of one of them. It had been a long and confusing day, with all of them.

In the room of a young girl, an analog clock ticked and tocked. With each tick, the second hand edged closer to the number twelve, with the shorter hand but degrees away from pointing at the number. All over Japan, there were people, despite everything that had happened today, who were counting down as well, retaining some joy in celebrating the coming of a New Year.

However, the girl in the bed was tossing and turning, sweating profusely. There was also groans that came from her lips as she continued to twist around the bed, messing up the sheets and wetting them with her sweat. Oblivious to her silent torment, the clock continued to tick.

At last, the hand of the clock struck twelve as all the hands moved to parallel one another for but an instant. Some people in Japan jumped for joy. Some prayed that the New Year would hold no unpleasant surprises. Some snored.

However, at that the very instant, Hikari Kamiya bolted upright from her restless sleep, her eyes wide and her breathing uneven. Instinctively, her hands groped in panic for the light switch, knocking some things to the ground in the process. However, her unsteady hands at last found the switch and it clicked on to reveal the familiar surroundings of her room.

Her eyes darted all over the room in every creak and cranny, every shadow. Her pants echoed in the room as she caught her breath, her eyes continue to dart around in search of the monster in her nightmare. But alas, there was nothing that pounced out to greet her. No monster.

_It's just a dream... Just a nightmare..._

Hikari hugged her arms tightly. There was nothing to be afraid of, but she felt strangely unsettled. There was a cold, dark feeling at the pit of her stomach. The dream... it was too vivid. Too real. Hikari swallowed, looking around and trying to spot her partner in the room before she remembered that her partner wasn't here.

How she wished that there _had_ been a certain monster in her room then.

_Onii-chan..._ Her mind instinctively called. Yes, her big brother would know what to do. He would be irritated at first, but he would comfort her, he would help her get over her nightmare like he always did.

Hikari was already halfway out of her bed when a memory of a voice crept into her mind.

* * *

"_...Taichi, Taichi, Taichi! You don't always have to rely on him!!..."_

* * *

She stopped right in her tracks at the mental voice. The voice was a very familiar one, one she heard daily. It was the tone that startled her, just as it had when she had first heard it. It was in fact the first time that the owner of the voice had used that tone with her... ever. And so far, it was the only time.

_Even so... he is right... I rely on Big Brother too much..._ Hikari thought as she sat heavily back onto her bed. _...It's just a dream. I shouldn't run to Big Brother for every little thing. _

Another part of her disagreed. This dream was way too unsettling. Even though the details were already fading, as was the impact of the dream, she was still traumatised by it. There had been no distinct 'monster' in her dream, just lots of dark shadows and flashes of light. Nothing that stood out. Yet, the dream still unsettled her. It had felt as though she were in the middle of a battle between two very powerful forces, forces that she could not see, hear or touch or sense with any of her senses. Forces that were intangible. It was like a battle of gods. She could feel the power of the two sides in the dream, and she felt small compared to those powers. That was what had frightened her.

But she wasn't going to go to her Big Brother about it. Chances were, she would fall asleep and forget all about it the next day.

However, she had to tell it to someone.

Her eyes glanced around and fell onto her D-Terminal. Hesitantly, she picked it up, pondering whether or not she should...

A split second later, she made her decision, flipping the cover of the D-Terminal open.

_I just hope that he is awake..._

* * *

**Well, admittedly, I decided to go for something... symbolic, to make up for the long update, as shown by how the whole chapter is timed one minute to midnight. The irony here is that 'minutes to midnight' actually means how close the world is to doomsday, or the end of the world. It's one minute to midnight. See the link?**

**Sorry again for the long update. When you have exams, well, bye bye life. The bright side is, the exams will be over in the next week or so. The downside is, I have A LOT to make up for. I hope this chapter will be a good start, hinting at further things to come.**

**Until next time then!  
**


	7. Why? I Don't Understand

DISCLAIMER: I don't own digimon, but I do own this plot and the entire series unless stated otherwise.

* * *

**Digimon Continuity**

_**Aftermath of 02  
Part One – The Government**_

Chapter 7

_Why? I Don't Understand_

* * *

**Wednesday – 1st January 2003**

* * *

_**:**_**. Real World – Unknown **

**12:00 AM JST**

Yamato held his breath, his whole body tensing as he turned to the opening door. Thoughts rushed through his mind like race cars in a competition. Each thought flashed in his head at what the opening door would reveal and was discarded just as quickly for its impracticability.

Part of him was surprised that they were seeing _anyone_ at all. He had actually expected to have to wait a long, long time before anyone even paid attention to them. Given the nature of their 'kidnap' was still unknown, and the fact that Joe had pointed out that their kidnappers could probably do whatever they wanted to the lot of them, it was to be expected that they would want to leave them guessing for a while before interacting with them. Furthermore, Yamato had come to a conclusion when he remembered exactly _how_ they had been kidnapped and had seen how plush their 'containment room' was. It was that whoever who had kidnapped them had been someone who was able to have their own army of sorts. Yamato had yet to know whether those military-like soldiers were mercenaries or real militia of some kind, but it was certain that they were not amateurs to this kind of thing. This further lead to the conclusion that they, for some reason, had become important all of a sudden, enough to warrant 'professionals' to kidnap them.

All these thoughts cramped into his head all at once, a subconscious understanding of their situation. Some of the conclusions, of course, he had worked out when Taichi was still comatose, but the rest fell into place as his mind raced to guess the answers to the questions behind the opening of the door.

In fact, another part of him had partially expected this. After all, if they were so important that they had been kidnapped in the first place, rather than placed under observation, it was bound to be due to the fact that _someone_ wanted to meet them. Though the allegiance of the person was shrouded in shadow, maybe they were not _that_ bad, as after all, they were still alive and not lying dead in a ditch somewhere. Perhaps they had been captured because they were suddenly an x-factor in some complicated equation and whoever who kidnapped them simply wanted that factor removed, either temporarily or permanently, rather than let it stay and simply observe them instead. After all, they were many advantages to observation that they were giving up here, like remaining anonymous, gathering information and so much more that Yamato did not care to name.

_Yet,_ Yamato mentally added to his rapid stream of thought.

However, Yamato did not trust his rational assessment of the intentions of their kidnapper or kidnapper_s_ all that much either. His time as a loner so long ago, which was much like a disease that only friendship and trust could cure, had thought him many things about life in general, one of which was to not have any expectations about anything and to expect everything. Too often, things would bypass, exceed or contrast any expectations he had. If anything, his time in the Digital World had strengthened this belief that having no expectations and truly expecting both the unexpected _and_ the expected was important. It had allowed him to accept facts that were so abruptly thrown into their faces more easily after all, unlike the others who had to arrange their belief of the things around them to suit the facts.

After all, this allowed him to accept that the Digital World as a whole new world, the digimon and the fact that he had to save both worlds so long ago. However, there were, of course, drawbacks from not allowing oneself to expect anything and yet expect everything, a near-impossible task that Yamato normally succeeded at. This sometimes raised age old doubts about things he knew for certain, like the friendship of his friends, as expecting everything meant that he did not expect the friendship to last. This was part of the reason why he still held himself aloft from them sometimes, even though he was clearly still part of the group.

Being a rock-star also influenced his friendships. Since he no longer really knew who wanted to be friends with him simply because he was himself or simply because he was a rock-star, he nowadays viewed was wary of any gesture of friendship from people. Given that he had to expect that some of the people out there just wanted to bathe in his fame and take advantage of his time in the spotlight, it would be rational to be suspicious of such gestures from anyone that he did not already know. As a result, he now only stuck with the friends who knew him before his rise as a rock-star, in particular, the other Chosen. Even so, it was hard for him to trust anyone who wasn't Chosen, and even them at times.

Back to the topic though, not expecting that his assessment might be correct let him thing about how their kidnapper might well have not shot them dead yet because he wanted information... and then...

Yamato mentally cringed at his stream of thoughts. _Sometimes, I hate my mind..._

Still, that habit of expecting everything and becoming less trusting of everyone in general once again had been ingrained into him and was hard to shake, becoming part of him. He sometimes really wanted to change himself, be more trusting of the world in general and believe in the light of the world, like his friends did. But, there were some things that one could not change so easily.

But soon, his mind, which had drifted quite far from the topic in question, like it normally did when he thought too hard about something, flipped its attention back onto the opening door, which had opened to reveal...

A white-haired man in a black suit, complete with a tie and loafers, stood before them. The surprising thing that broke the image of a cold, efficient agent of some powerful person that his crisp attire tried to imply was his warm smile, which stretched the prominent wrinkles on his face. And even more surprising was that his smile was genuine. He looked much like a butler in charge of a mansion rather than a jail cell, for that is what their room was, no matter how nicely they said it.

Everyone in the room were stunned into silence as they watched the old man bow to them, like they were honoured guests, and then speak to them in a tone as warm and inviting as his fatherly smile. "Can I ask that you come with me, please?"

Everyone in the room, save Koushiro, who was still comatose, simply gaped at the old man for a brief moment. After all, Yamato thought that they were probably expecting some big large brute with ripping muscles and an intimidating glare to open the door, not this kindly old man. Then, Yamato simply shrugged.

"Come on, guys, let's go," he told the others. It was not like they had any other choice, and sides, Yamato preferred this unexpected escort to any his imagination cared to conjure. He was sure the others did too, but of course, none of them would voice out the fact.

_Not that they can,_ part of him mused. _Expecting everything sometimes _does_ have its advantages, like recovering quickest and keeping my cool._ Though admittedly, Yamato thought that perhaps that that was exactly why this old man had been sent, to throw them off guard right before they met the probable kidnapper or a lackey.

_Or, it could just be to let us know that they don't harbour any ill intentions_, the other half of Yamato argued. He mentally groaned at the assessments. Being the kind of person he was had its disadvantages, like having two contradicting views on practically everything. Yamato still had some deep-seated doubts deep within himself that were not shaken so easily, which was why he never fully embraced the concept of friendship. It was especially ironic that he was the Chosen of Friendship at all.

_Though admittedly, having two views lets me see the situation more clearly._

Sure, it was uncomfortable to constantly be in doubt of everything, even friendship, and yet cling to them like a drowning man to a straw, but it had its advantages as well.

_Well, I guess I'm simply a weird person..._ Yamato noted in grim amusement at his general line of thought.

* * *

_**:**_**. Real World – Japan, Odaiba  
Kamiya Residence**

**12:06 AM JST**

Hikari had settled back into her bed to type the email that she was going to send. Then, she once again reviewed what she had typed.

_Hey, you awake?_

_Sorry to mail you so late, but I had a nightmare. A kind of weird one, but it was a little disturbing. I was in the middle of it, feeling two powerful forces clash. I think they were kind of intangible, I mean, it is hard to explain but they were really _powerful_. It was like they were more powerful than even MaloMyotismon, which, I know, sounds a little-_

She had stopped there, and as she read it over again, she deleted the whole thing all over again. The words she wanted to say just didn't come out right. And furthermore, the longer she took to type the message, the more her initial resolve to not go to Big Brother instead dissolved. It did not help that her unsettlement was fading as well, making it just another nightmare.

_This is stupid,_ Hikari thought. _I mean, why should I disturb Takeru because of a stupid dream? It was probably just a result of everything that happened today. _

Sure, he was her best friend and she would readily confine in him about anything in the world, unless she was certain that it would only make him worry unnecessarily and simply cause more unsolvable problems for him.

While she was also certain that Takeru would not mind her disturbing his sleep regarding any matter at all, however trivial, today was a particularly exhausting day, making it even more of a reason not to disturb him.

_I'll probably forget all about it tomorrow anyway..._ Hikari thought, hardening her resolve not to disturb her best friend with the reasons that she had conjured up. She was, of course, not going to go to her brother either. After all, it was just a dream.

Right?

Hikari's gut told her to pay attention to the dream, tried to tell her that it was important. She too, knew it was important. However, Hikari chose not to listen, determined that it was _just_ a dream.

That decided, she set aside her D-Terminal, closing it and putting it back on her bedside table before turning off the lamp there and settling back into her bed. She closed her eyes, and waited for sleep to come.

She waited, and waited, and waited.

However, no matter how long she waited, sleep just would not come. She checked the time and found only ten minutes had passed. Hikari soon begun tossing and turning in an attempt to make herself more comfortable. Whenever she thought she had gotten a comfortable position and attempted to make her body relax, her attention would be drawn to some minor discomfort that she could not ignore. And when she adjusted to accommodate that discomfort, what progress she had made to allow her body to slip into sleep faded away and the process constantly repeated.

Sometimes, it was that her blanket did not cover her leg properly, making her feet cold. Sometimes, it was too warm. Sometimes, it was that the skin under her hair itched. Sometimes, it was that her hair tickled her face. Sometimes, it was that her head had shifted ever so slightly and was no longer in an ideal position. Sometimes, it was because of the cold sweat forming at the palms of her hands and feet that demanded to be wiped away. Sometimes, it was just the repetition of a previous problem.

Hikari begun feeling more and more irritated as she continued to toss and turn. Sweat had begun forming on her brow as well, as a result of the constant warmth and cold that her body repeatedly experienced. Soon enough, she could not decide whether having her blanket on was better or not. Having it on seemed to make it too warm, but having it off seemed to make it too cold.

She began wondering what happened to her exhaustion. Wasn't she so tired just hours ago? Where was it when she needed it?

But as time stretched out and the night seemed no closer to ending than it had begun, Hikari sat up and turned on the light, making a frustrated sigh while surveying her room, looking for something that would aid her insomnia. Nothing took her notice that could help her.

Part of her wished that Gatomon were there. At least, maybe the latter would be able to help. Another part of her, on the other hand, thought that having Gatomon around then would only cause her to be unable to get sleep as well, worrying for her for the rest of the night.

Sighing again, Hikari swung her legs out of bed and slipped them into her cool slippers, before pushing away her covers and getting to her feet. Exiting her room, she glanced around only to see the hallway shrouded in darkness and the doors to the rooms of the other members of her family firmly shut. She did not check for snores before she tiptoed to the kitchen under the light of the moon alone, which was sufficient to light the way.

_Well, maybe a glass of milk might help,_ Hikari thought absent-mindedly as she took out a glass and rinsed it as quietly as she could, putting it on the table-top to go open the door of the refrigerator.

_Huh?_

She closed the door and opened it again, but the internal lights of the refrigerator did not turn on like they should. Hikari groped for where she knew the milk to be, frowning as she took out a glass bottle of it, with water condensed on the surface.

In fact, the refrigerator no longer felt as though it were emitting cool air like it should.

_Mom isn't going to like this,_ she thought as she poured the milk into the glass as best she could under just the moonlight. After all, if the refrigerator was not functioning as it should, all the food within would spoil. It seemed that power was cut for some reason, and she did not need to check the lights later on to find out it was so, as the non-functioning refrigerator was proof enough.

She vaguely considered telling her parents about the power outage, but she decided against it. For some reason, she felt a strange reluctance to talk to anyone at the moment, much like how sometimes when confronted with doing her homework, she would much rather do anything else but.

Part of her attempted to tell her that it was important, but she remained oblivious to that voice. After all, stranger things have occurred today. Admittedly though, those 'strange things' were sort of the norm for her, while this was not. Even so, she did not want to pay too much attention to the lack of power, much like how one would prefer not to think about something one dreaded. Instead, she simply downed her glass of milk and rinsed the glass once again before putting it back where she put it.

Either the milk was doing its work or the lack of power had somehow drained her as well, leaving her feeling as exhausted as she had earlier. Suddenly, it seemed that her eyelids were too heavy, as were her feet. She almost felt as though she were sickly again, almost like when she was younger, when sickness and weakness were commonplace. Her room and suddenly appealing bed seemed too far away now.

She felt strangely light-headed for some reason. With each step she tried to take towards her room, which she tried to convince herself was not very far at all, her fatigue increased. Black ate at the edge of her vision and shadows seemed to play tricks on her eyes, lengthening and taking impossible shapes.

_W-what is happening?_ Hikari thought, her mind sluggish.

She tripped on the next step she took and the world looked wobbly for some reason.

Yet, a part of her knew that it was _her_ that was shaky, and not the world. She staggered to the nearby couch instead, dropping so heavily into it that she sunk a bit into it before the couch regained its shape again.

A headache begun to make its presence known, and Hikari attributed it how she must have hit her head on the armrest of the couch when she collapsed on it. But, instead of fading away as it should when she stopped moving, it seemed to intensify, becoming even more painful. White spots seared her vision, and combined with the black eating at the edges of her sight, she was vaguely reminded of her dream of the two powers clashing before the next wave of pain robbed her of thought.

Hikari clenched her head with her hands, her body instinctively curling tightly up into a fetal position. She squeezed her head hard, as though the action could allow her to squeeze out the cause of all the pain. Her mouth opened and closed as she gasped for breath, the pain making it hard to even perform so simple a task. She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry out for her brother, for her mother, for her father, for anyone. But no sound would come out. The only sounds she could manage were choking sounds that she herself barely heard. The pain kept intensifying and tears sprung to her eyes, falling against her will.

Images flashed in her mind's eye. Screens of white and black alternated between each other, their details too indistinct for her to catch. They also seemed to superimpose themselves on whatever she was looking at. One second, the room around her looked blacker than the darkest night and the next it were as though someone had shone a spotlight at the room, illuminating it almost painfully, making her eyes ache as well as her head.

Hikari squeezed her eyes shut and her mouth opened in a silent scream, as she clenched her head in her hands, begging for the pain to go away. Then, white seemed to fill the left sight of her vision and black the right, before they collided in her mind's eye and unleashed an explosion of pain that made Hikari try in vain to scream again.

That mental explosion seemed to blow away all the pain as well, leaving her light-headed and feeling more exhausted than ever, as though she had just endured the equivalent of a 10km full-out sprint and knocked her head at the same time. She did not move, letting her tears fall as she waited for the pain to come back.

It did not.

The pain had left her in a snap. One moment it was there, and the next it was gone. It was not like any natural pain that faded slowly. There was not even a throb in her head to even indicate that the headache had been there in the first place.

Hikari, moving slowly, hugged her knees tightly as she drew them up to her chest, lying horizontally on the couch. She was disturbed more than she had ever been by the phenomenon. It may have compared to her experience in the Dark Ocean, except the eeriness of the place was more subtle than outright like this had been, causing her deepest and most primal of instincts to scream that something was wrong.

This, however, was on an utterly different scale.

Hikari, on the other hand, no longer wanted to think about it. Sleep beckoned her, and she complied, allowing herself to be drawn into its realm, where she could forget this incident. A final thought rang through her oddly empty and hollow head before sleep took her, a thought that disturbed her almost as much as the phenomenon had, as it was not her own thought, but rather, a plea that rung from the deepest part of her.

_Big Brother... Help..._

* * *

_**:**_**. Real World – Unknown **

**12:03 AM JST**

"Come on, guys, let's go."

Yamato then proceeded to watch as Joe helped Taichi to his feet, none of the others saying anything after Yamato's comment.

But soon, Joe spoke up. "Uh, guys... what about Koushiro?"

It was the old man that answered Joe's question. "Do not worry, I will send him up when he awakes."

"No," Taichi rebuked almost immediately, pushing himself free of Joe to stand on his own two feet. For a moment, he wavered a little before he got his footing. "Koushiro either comes with us, or we don't go at all."

The sheer strength in which Taichi proclaimed that made Yamato feel a little guilty. After all, _he_ was the Chosen of Friendship, yet he had completely forgotten about Koushiro.

_Taichi deserves to be the Chosen of Friendship, not me..._ Yamato thought before he shoved the thought to the back of his mind. He didn't need to be troubled by this now, not when there was so much more to worry about.

"I will send for a stretcher then." The old man bowed and then, still bowing, he retreated out of the room, leaving the door open as he went off to, presumably, get a stretcher.

The compliance of the old man was probably even more surprising than the old man himself, and the fact that he had left the door open. But Yamato doubted that he would have left the door as it was without reason, and sure enough, when Yamato checked, he noticed two of the burly, muscular and intimidating brutes that he had expected to greet them instead standing guard outside.

"So, what did you think that was about?" Yamato believed that Taichi had addressed everyone in general, but the latter was staring at him, so he thought that Taichi expected the answer from him.

So, he complied.

"I honestly don't know," Yamato said, deciding to stick to the truth and what he had concluded, instead of voicing any one of the thousand speculations that he had. Then, he related his conclusions about the old man and their 'kidnappers' to the others.

The others considered his words for a moment. Taichi was the first to break the silence.

"It's kinda weird to send an Ojii-san, especially a nice one like him, to bring us to wherever it is when they had effectively just kidnapped us, right?" Taichi said, speaking his mind like he normally did.

"Well, think about it, Taichi," Sora said. "What Yamato says is right. Maybe they are trying to convince us that their intentions are good or something too, so that we'll help them or something. To be honest, I can't think of any other reason that they would want us for other than the fact that it has something to do with the Digital World and digimon."

Yamato nodded in agreement as the room dropped into silence once again, as everyone pondered the gravity of their situation.

"But, couldn't they just ask nicely or something?" Joe said, his tone containing a trace of worry that he did not hide very well. "I mean, they didn't have to resort to kidnapping us like this, right?"

"I don't know, Joe..." Taichi said in reply. "Other than what Yamato said, I don't have any ideas as to why we are here. I think the best thing to do is to just go along with what they want us to do, at least, until we figure out something to do."

Taichi's words were greeted with a unanimous nod before silence filled the room again as they waited for the old man to return.

Yamato kept his face blank as speculations and facts and everything else waged a war in his head, fighting to gain his attention and dominance.

_I don't see any other way either... Going with the flow seems to be the best thing for us to do right now..._ Yamato thought as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall once more, allowing himself to slip deep into his thoughts yet again.

* * *

**Note: Ojii-san means grandpa or old man in Japanese. **

**Personally, I chose to use it as Ojii-san sounds more respectful than 'old man' and it seemed like how Taichi would speak. Truth be told though, I was probably influenced by Hikari Hanazono (yes, I see the irony here too) of the Special A manga, who has a personality that matches Taichi in some ways. Like, maybe, their density and stubbornness in situations. Reading her say Ojii-san all the time in the scanlations resulted in me trying it out. And admittedly, it sounds rather nice. **

**This chapter is longer than usual, mainly because of the fact that Hikari's scene is longer than I ever expected it to be, causing me to cut out some of Yamato's scene in the ending of this chapter to put in the next, so that the chapters seem more balanced. Furthermore, Hikari's scene was a last-minute inspiration thing. I had initially wanted her to simply have problems sleeping, but I then decided that this way was much better. **

**The title, though still relating to the chapter in some way, was actually a reflection of a little something that is going on in my life right now, which is actually kind of the reason why I am so rarely seen nowadays. Well, that and the fact that I'm going to be starting JC soon. So...yeah. No further explanation there. **

**Anyhow, hope that you enjoy this chapter, for truth be told, this chapter was the most fun to write so far in Aftermath, as well as the fact that it is important too. **

**Lastly, thanks go to Crazyeight for Beta Reading this chapter (and pointing out my mistakes therein) and all those who have diligently followed my fics despite the long interval between updates. Thank you all.**


	8. Power To Save The World

DISCLAIMER: I don't own digimon, but I do own this plot and the entire series unless stated otherwise.

* * *

_**Digimon Continuity**_

**Aftermath of 02**

Chapter 8

Power To Save The World

* * *

**Wednesday ****–**** 1st January 2003**

* * *

_**:. **_**Real World – ****Unknown**

**12:13 AM JST**

Out the door of the room that they were in, they went, with Taichi carrying Koshiro. In the end, a stretcher was too awkward in the narrow corridors they were in now. Not the first time, Taichi wished that Koushiro was awake. Not just to remove the burden of needing to carry him, though. Rather, it was due to how Taichi would also have much preferred the insights of the boy as well. More often than not, Koushiro's insights were the most helpful compared to the others.

Regardless, Taichi glanced around them at the pure white walls and doors, feeling as though this place looked a lot like some abandoned office building that had been ridiculously well-maintained. There was not a soul present apart from them, giving the place an empty hollow feeling. It felt out of place with the Oji-san. Rather, the Oji-san felt out of place in this empty place, with his warm sincerity and purposeful steps.

He led them into a lift and ushered them in. It was a little small, thus a little crammed. The Oji-san pushed one of the buttons on the lift and stepped outside, gesturing for them to go on without him.

"This is where I leave you." The Oji-san bowed to them as the lift doors closed.

The lift seemed to groan under their weight before starting to ascend. None of them spoke as they watched the numbers on the screen change. From the seventh floor, which they seemed to be on, they ascended to one of the higher levels of the building they were in before the lift dinged and the doors parted again.

Unlike the plain and empty walls of the floors below, however, this floor seemed to assault them with colour that felt as though it could blind them. It was like seeing the full spectrum of colours after living with black and white vision. This floor also doubled as some kind of entrance hall, its ceiling several stories above them, with a chandelier that hung from it laminating the entire 'hall'. The walls were decorated with a wallpaper of rich red and gold, forming intricate patterns. The ground also held a carpet spanning the entire hall with a similar design.

"Did we cross dimensions and somehow landed in some grand mansion?"

Ahead of them, there was a man seated in a couch that was grandeur enough to fit its surroundings, watching what looked like one of the largest televisions Taichi had ever seen.

Seeming to hear them, he turned toward them. "Thank you for the compliment. However, this is no mansion as this is the only hall of which to speak of, as you can see."

Taichi pulled his gaze from the walls and studied the ground level. Indeed, there were no other doors leading out anywhere, and despite the large space, only the centre had been occupied with furnishings, with large comfortable couches and a large glass coffee table in the middle, with the ridiculously large television being perpendicular to the side of the couches. In fact, the hall looked like a warm and inviting living room, albeit a ridiculously large one that wasted too much space. The Oji-san would have fitted into the background perfectly. The man and the lot of them were the only things that were out of place. It was like someone put a normal person's living room into a mansion's entrance hall.

The man's entire attire was completely black, matching his black hair and similarly black eyes. He donned a black leather jacket that was left open to reveal a similar black t-shirt underneath, along with black pants, black fingerless gloves as well as black boots. He was sprawled across the couch with his legs crossed on the coffee table as though he owned the whole place. He did not even remotely fit what Taichi had expected, be it from their situation or this grand hall. He just looked like some kind of high class gangster. The air of arrogance that hung about him, on the other hand, suited both their surroundings and his attire perfectly.

"Still," the man continued, pushing his bangs out of his eyes with a sweep of his hand, "I don't own this place, so I'll pass the compliment on. Come on, take a seat. I'm not going to bite."

His words shook them out of their paralysis. Taichi took the first step forward, slowly followed by the others. The man watched them with what seemed like amusement in his eyes as they slowly seated themselves on the circular couch directly opposite of him. Taichi lowered Koushiro on one end of the couch, while everyone else took seats on the same couch. It was large enough to fit them all with room to spare. Once everyone was seated, the man nodded and offered them refreshments, which was on the transparent coffee table.

No one accepted.

The man shrugged and poured a cup of steaming tea for himself from one of the expensive looking pots, taking a sip from it while they all stared at him. Despite looking like a gangster, the way he sipped his tea hinted that appearances were deceiving. He seemed unaffected by their stares and took another sip while his black eyes studied them. Sora and Joe looked away when his gaze met them, but Taichi and Yamato kept held their eyes. The man then put down his cup and leaned back on his couch, spreading his arms wide as the couch sunk under his weight.

"So?"

Taichi blinked.

"So?" he asked.

"Don't you have anything else to say? Some question you want to ask?"

Almost immediately, questions burst into his mind and Taichi voiced them in one long string. "Why did you kidnap us? What is this place? Who are you? Where are we? What's going on? What have you done with my sister?"

The man shook his head and gestured for him to calm down with one flick of his hand. Taichi did so. After all, the last question tumbled out without him expecting it, surprising even him, the one who asked it. Now, Taichi realised his worry for his little sister. Have they done anything to her? Despite having been reassured previously by his conversation with the others just now that the other kids were probably safe, he now realised he was still worried. After all, how sure could they be that his sister and the others were not involved in this as well?

The others stared at him for a moment before turning their attention to the man before them, who had lowered his eyes and was now stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"Well, let me answer your questions one at the time, shall I? In return, I want you to answer a few questions of mine. Of course, I hope that you are as truthful to me as I will be to you. Is that a deal?"

The man looked up to face him. Frowning, Taichi considered glancing toward the others for a consultation. However, Taichi felt as though this were a match that he would lose should he turn away from the man's eyes. Thus, Taichi thought to himself for a moment, pondering the pros and cons of this situation before his worry for his sister filled his mind completely, leaving him unable to think of anything else.

Then, someone clamped a hand on his shoulder and Taichi glanced to his side to find Yamato nodding to him in encouragement. On the other side of him, Taichi felt Sora pet his forearm and Joe petting his back. Thus, Taichi took a deep breath, turning back to the man before nodding solemnly.

The man nodded in return. "Alright then, let me start with my introduction. My name is Yoshio Omori. That name probably doesn't mean anything to you, so perhaps it would be better if I said that I am the head of Naichō, Japan's very own intelligence agency. Well, you can say it is a sub-group of the Japanese Self-Defence Force, though that would be a bit far-fetched."

Taichi had heard of Naichō every now and then, but he did not actually know what was it they did, unlike those English movies with the FBI and CIA and all that.

"Well, regardless, let us move on. First of all, let me explain the situation to you in a way that you understand." The man, Yoshio Omori, gestured toward the television and Taichi realised that it was a rerun of a popular anime that was on air when he was a kid. There was currently a fight scene showing between the protagonist and some enemy that he no longer remembered the name of. However, the image was flickering every now and then, indicative of what had struck their computers not too long ago. The anime showing at all was, on the other hand, proof that Japan's power grid was back online from whatever it was that had brought it down.

"Now," the man continued. "If you are wondering why this is airing at all instead of some news story about the _event_ which happened a few hours ago, let me explain."

Before he elaborated further, the man leaned forward, picked up a remote from the coffee table and switched the television shut. The moment the sounds of the battle had stopped emitting from the television, a suffocating silence filled the empty hall. Taichi realised that he had preferred the atmosphere with the television on, even if what was airing was just some old anime.

When the man started speaking again, his voice echoed in the empty halls, making the impact of the words all the more powerful.

"Let's just say that the world is in shock and, perhaps even fear. No, fear is right. The world is afraid, very much so. No one was prepared for this. Imagine. You were living your life as you normally did. Then, without any warning, the world changed on you and shattered the illusion of the life you were living. The sky had changed. The world had gone dark. The sun was blotted out. The moon was no longer there. The lights that mankind worked so hard to keep bright had disappeared. The world had descended into utter darkness. What had appeared was a sky that was strange and foreign. Monsters dwell in that world. You know it. You could see their shadows. They were coming. You felt it in your heart. Whether you believed in a religion or not, you knew that this was the Armageddon."

The man paused again, much like how a good story teller would when approaching the climax of the story, with only the out of place sounds of the anime in the background that completely contrasted with the 'story' that the man told. The suffocating silence returned, except this time, it was filled with an uncomfortable tension as well. Taichi and the others did not speak, only held their breath as one as none of them dared to break the tension. It was due to this that when the man finally broke the tension with his words again, his words gained even more power over them.

"Then, out of nowhere, a light appeared. And then two. And three. And more and more of it appeared. You heaved a sigh of relief. You knew that God had come to save you. And then, you realise that those were not angels being sent to protect you, but children, who ascending into that dangerous world. And then, the Armageddon ended. The world was still here. But, those children did not come back."

The man paused again, and suddenly, his gaze sharpened, as though he were now awake and no longer telling a bedtime story, but preparing to have a perfectly serious discussion now.

"Now, tell me. How would you feel knowing that children had saved the world and adults who are supposed to protect these children could do nothing about it?"

Taichi finally snapped out of a trance the man had somehow put him into, and he realised that the others had fallen into it as well. It took him a second to actually register all the words that the man had said and string them together into something his brain could understand.

"Let me, as an adult, answer that question for you. You would feel utterly useless. And yet, you would not dare do anything about it. Who knows when it might come back? The world has brushed so close to the Armageddon, barely getting away. And then, out of nowhere, you find that the children that were supposedly sacrificed to save the world had reappeared once again. If the children came back, you think, does that mean that the Armageddon also has a chance of happening once again? Now, tell me. What will you do knowing this chance existed?"

The man smiled.

"Let me tell you. I would gather these children and find out whatever they know, as well as how to prevent this from happening ever again. Particularly when you realise that it has happened before. This phenomenon. And, in order to do that, we need to control the power that stopped the Armageddon. And that is: You."

A chill went up Taichi's spine at that word and he opened his mouth to speak. However, it was dry, and no words came out. He realised just how true those words were. To someone who did not know about the Digital World, would it not be very traumatising to see this phenomenon?

"Well, think about it children. Would any reporter in the world want to report about the Armageddon? Reporters don't like to report about the things that affects them too greatly. And there is not a single person in this world who was not affected by this _event_. So, of course it makes sense for there to be no one who dares to report about this. Well, of course, there are always exceptions. However, the god-fearing would worry about incurring god's wrath and they will pressure those that are not to not do so."

The man's words made perfect sense. Taichi felt that all they had been worried about was far too small. They had been worried about whether the existence of the Digital World had been discovered. Taichi doubted that any of them ever actually thought of the possibility of MaloMyotismon's attack being considered the Armageddon by the world.

"Of course, this is just one of the many probable reasons that an adult might think of. Others might think of other things, such as aliens, for example. Well, I'm sure the status quo will change sooner or later, for better or worse. Humans are very adaptable creatures, no? They'll accept this and move on. But, in order to accept it, they must control it. That is the way of humans. Which brings us back to the topic of _you_."

His gaze focused on them. Or rather, to Taichi alone.

"So, tell me, Taichi Kamiya. What is this power you control that can stop the Armageddon itself? And what," the man took out a very familiar item and leaned forward, holding it closer for them to see, "is this?"

In his hand, Yoshio Omori held a Digivice.

Taichi was tongue tied. He could not say anything, for no words came to mind. His mind was just a complete blank. He was not even sure he had registered everything the man had just said in that overly long speech. Beside him, Yamato spoke up, saving him.

"You haven't actually answered Taichi's question, you know," Yamato spoke coolly, as though he were completely unaffected by the words Yoshio Omori had said. Without a doubt, this was one of the times he was grateful to have Yamato has a friend.

The man sat up straight and leaned back into his chair. "Oh really? I thought I had already answered the first question of 'Why did we kidnap you'. Well, then let me put it in more simple terms," he said in a tone that suggested he was lecturing stubborn children. "Basically, the five of you appear to be the oldest of all the children that 'Ascended'. And, your case is also special in that you are the only group that had five Ascend from the same location. Other countries, like Hong Kong, had about three Ascend at the same time, but your case is the only special case of five. Add to the fact that you are the oldest, and would most people not assume that you are clearly the ones with the most power among all the other Ascended?

The world now wants your power. While Japan is no exception, you are in our territory. We initially did not want to make a move on you, and to observe you further, but the actions of other countries has forced our hand. In a way, you could say we were protecting you."

"So, that wasn't you?" Yamato asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Of course not. If it were, Aragawa would not have brought you here to talk to me and we would not be sipping tea in comfort, would we? Well, even if it is just me doing the latter," the man said as he picked up his cup of tea.

_Aragawa?_

Taichi considered a moment and concluded that it was probably the name of the Oji-san. Finishing that train of thought, Taichi considered the rest of Yoshio Omori's words. Indeed, they did make sense. Why else would they be here, 'chatting' with the self-proclaimed head of Naichō, Japan's intelligence agency?

"Well, we gave you what we could to counter the effects of the tranquilizer we presumed the forces used, but I suppose that your friend over there took one too many shots, to still be sleeping now."

Taichi glanced to Koushiro, who was indeed still sound asleep. The events from before felt unreal, as though it were all one big dream, now that he thought back on it. The tension that had been built up while they were waiting had completely evaporated. Even Yamato, the cautious one, was relaxing.

"So, where are we?" Taichi blurted out before he could think his words over.

"Well, that's simple. You are in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the tallest building in Tokyo. Of course, it won't be so anymore in a few years, but who's counting?"

Taichi blinked in surprise at the man's reply. Taichi most definitely did not expect him to reveal this information so readily. From the looks of the others by his side, they did not either. Of course, there was the matter of whether or not he was actually telling the truth, but he seemed completely open with them, and Taichi had nothing else to fall back on regardless. He had no choice but to accept the answer.

Yoshio Omori must have seen their scepticism, because he chuckled.

"Well, if you don't believe me, you can check out the observation deck later. I'm sure none of you have ever done so before so late in the night, correct?" He said friendlily.

"Does that mean you are letting us go?" Sora asked, blinking at his statement.

"You were never held back in the first place," Omori casually replied, waving his hand at the lift doors. "We had already pushed back those that were after you, and they are gone for now. However, would you mind hearing me out?"

He glanced at the others and they glanced back at each other. As one, they nodded.

"Well, we don't actually know when other countries might try to do something to you lot, or what they might do, so, can I ask that you let yourselves be put under our protection?"

Taichi's eyes widened and then he blinked.

However, before he could say anything, Omori held up his hand.

"Wait, hear me out. We will let you live your lives as per normal, and will try our very best not to interfere too much into your lives. We will protect you from the shadows and keep make sure that other countries don't do anything with you, and your families. In exchange, can you cooperate with us?"

Taichi was about to rebuke, but Omori shook his head as he stood up, indicating he was not done.

"We will not ask you to give us your power or anything like that. All we ask is that you cooperate with us in helping us understand your power. I know this will be hard for you to answer immediately. I won't ask you for an answer now. We will let you go back to your homes and think over it for a while. Is that acceptable for you?"

Taichi thought about Omori's words carefully. Did he have a choice? This was no longer something that he and the older group could handle alone. They were suffering a threat that came from an unknown source, something that they could not rely on their own strength and that of their partners to defeat, because these were still humans. They could not use their partners to attack humans, for it would go against everything they had worked for. Furthermore, Omori had brought up the need to protect their families as well. If he declined...

_Hikari..._

Hikari had grown up, but she was still his little sister. That fact did not change. While he was sure that he could prevent himself from being attacked again by always having Agumon by his side, ready to protect him, he did not want to bring a life of needing to be constantly on guard to Hikari again. One time had been enough. She had already gone through it in the Digital World the first time. She did not need to go through it again, in the home she loved so much.

Taichi looked up.

There was no other choice to make.

The things he had to protect.

Hikari's way of life.

Hikari's happiness.

And Hikari herself.

He could not do this alone.

Looking around, he saw resolve in the eyes of the others as well. They too, understood what Omori had told them.

While they had already made their decision, there was still one member who had not made that choice. Until then, they would not answer. If they would answer, they would answer together.

As the first generation Chosen Children.

They would make this choice that would affect all the Chosen Children in the world today and all those that would come in the future.

"Understood."

Yoshio Omori smiled, and then walked over, putting the Digivice he held into Taichi's hands.

"Well, now that we have that settled, would you like to see the view I promised you?"

* * *

"Nice work," a voice said from the shadows. The shadows cast by the surrounding buildings' light on the unlit observation deck of the Tokyo Metropolitan Towers was deep enough that the face of the voice was completely hidden.

The lights were not turned on in the first place due to how it allowed one to fully appreciate the view provided by the surroundings.

Yoshio Omori was now alone in that room with the owner of the voice.

"Thanks. How did I do?"

"Not bad," the voice said, sounding amused.

Yoshio chuckled himself, feeling himself relax completely, even though he knew better than to do so.

_Still, today has been a long day. Surely, letting my guard down today is fine, right? _Yoshio thought, and as a reflex, his mental guard attempted to go alert again, before it deflated like a balloon with a hole in it due to his exhaustion. He had exhausted his mental reserves completely dealing with the dedicate situation regarding those children, code named Ascended, which fitted, somewhat. He had to ensure that they would cooperate, and the best way to do so was to earn their trust.

Thus, he had no more energy left to deal with the owner of the voice.

While he was the head of Naichō, Naichō was not an organisation like any of the other 'spy type' organisations. Their total numbers were less than 200, and most of them were actually people who were 'on loan' from other organisations that made up the Japanese forces, meaning that an order from their original organisations would supersede any order from the head of Naichō himself. Of all the 200 or so people in Naichō, there were only a small core group of about ten people who were on a permanent post in Naichō, him inclusive, and they made up the core operatives. However, these 'operatives' would not fit the archetype of what was perceived as agents of an intelligence agency. Contrary to what most of the world is shown through American and British spy shows, Naichō's operatives worked in the information sector. There were practically no 'hands-on' agents, or field operatives, in Naichō at all. None of them were trained in doing interrogations, negotiations, field work and so on, as one would expect a spy to be able to. In fact, Yoshio doubted half of them had even held a gun before, let alone any have proficiency with it. This was why most other countries did not regard Naichō as a threat, nor held any respect for it at all. Everything the outside world knew of Naichō was some corrupt and inefficient organisation that had resorted to _requiring_ manpower from other organisations in Japan.

However, Naichō knew that this was to its advantage. After all, one does not see coming what one does not expect. Naichō thus could pull a decisive strike at an enemy without the enemy ever suspecting it. How will Naichō pull that off, one might ask. It was simple, really. There was one thing they were very good at that made up for everything else.

Their field of expertise was the vast world known as the Internet. That was where they specialised, and that was their sole expertise. In fact, that was the entire purpose of Naichō. What the 'operatives' of Naichō did was collect information from all other countries. That's why in order to even qualify to be part of Naichō, one had to be proficient in Japanese and at least one other language. They collected all kinds of information, from the most useless junk to the smallest of leaks from one of the hundreds of other organisations out there. Everything that other organisations knew, Naichō would know, from piecing together the small leaks that occurred everywhere into one large picture. Anything that was digitised, Naichō could find. In the new age of the Internet, this was their strongest trump card. Of course, Naichō kept everything to itself.

And, this was where the owner of the voice came in.

Naichō was absurdly powerful because of the sheer amount of information it held, and due to that, it had to be watched carefully. Even if, or perhaps because, it reported directly to the Prime Minister himself, there were a few organisations in Japan that knew of Naichō's true nature and kept a close eye on it. Of course, they had their own reasons for doing so, such as finding out even a little of what Naichō knew. The owner of the voice was one of these people, chosen to keep an eye on the head of Naichō himself.

One would ask, why in the first place would Naichō keep everything to itself and as a result need to go through so much trouble?

Naichō was made such that it would be able to warn Japan should any threat be headed its way early. However, they also had to keep a low profile. Thus, if they were to spread their information to everyone, that would be like walking down the street naked with a sign saying "I have found a way to sneak into your backyard and steal whatever I want". Naichō would much rather the other organisations remain unaware of their own open backdoors, allowing Naichō to slip in and collect information whenever it needed to.

Naichō's abilities had its own flaws. They may know a lot, but they do not know everything. Organisations aware of Naichō were careful with how they handled their information. That was why even Yoshio knew next nothing about the owner of the voice, apart from the fact that he was being watched and what the owner told him.

"A penny for your thoughts?"

He turned away from the skyline and glanced toward the owner of the voice, for just a brief moment, and immediately regretted his mistake.

The owner of the voice had stepped into the light and her concerned eyes were now in full view.

He quickly turned back to face the window again, but it was already too late. The concern in her eyes had been burned into his eyes. It was times like this that caused him to wonder if she truly cared for his well-being or this was all an act to get him to lower his guard.

"Nothing really. Just thinking about the situation in general," he said, his tone softening unconsciously.

The worst part was, there was no way he could ever confirm his doubts. After all, she never took advantage of any of the times he let his guard down doing anything, be it to get closer to him or to pry more information out of him, giving him the impression that she was truly worried about just his welfare. Yet, he could not get the first words she ever said to him out of his head.

_"... I am your new assistant, no arguments allowed. I have been sent by a certain organisation to ensure that you don't go rogue. If you do, I will have no choice but to kill you. Please take good care of me!"_

In the end, no organisation would send someone who could not get the job done. However, he could not find any hint of the organisation which she supposedly worked for. And would she not do her job better by not telling him what she did? There was always the possibility that it was all a trick for her to secure the job of being his assistant, for whatever reason. The pay was higher, for one.

_Who am I kidding? That's just my wishful thinking._

He glanced at her once again to find her looking out the window as well, her expression serene.

Honestly, he should have just locked her up or something from the very beginning and gotten another assistant. It was unfortunate that in the time he had taken to debate what to do regarding the situation, she had proven far too useful for him to do anymore and he had grown too reliant on her.

_A blatant 'spy' spying on the person who was in charge of Japan's 'spy' organisation and I can't toss her out. The irony. _

"Well, let's get going. We can't stand here watching the view forever, even if that's what I want to do. There's work to be done."

She nodded enthusiastically and took out her PDA, before starting to list down all the tasks that he had yet to perform in the 'high priority' list, most of them involving more researching into who were the other Ascended children and the backgrounds of the ones he had just talked to.

"... Also, please don't forget to check out the data collected by inFiltrate. Its sorting is almost done."

Yoshio Omori nodded and glanced one more time at the landscape.

"The power to save the world, huh? I wonder what other countries think of it."

* * *

**Hi everyone. It has been a year already since I last published a story. I don't think a simple sorry will be enough anymore. But, an explanation is in order. I am sad to say that I was stuck with a writer's block, made all the more worse due to the fact that this year is the year I am taking my A Level examinations, which is an important (you can say the most important) examinatino in my life.**

**Well, I wish I could attribute it all to stress, but part of it was laziness as well. I just couldn't find the motivation to sit down and write again, when watching anime a much simpler to relieve stress. That, and playing Weiss Schwarz. **

**Since I took so long to release this chapter, let me reveal some trivia about it:**

**This is the third version of Chapter 8.  
Yoshio Omori has undergone multiple changes in personality, with the final being the person he is now. He was once a magnificent bastard.  
The assistant was only added in this version of the chapter.  
The Armageddon thing came from To Aru Majutsu no Index, which served as inspiration for me to finish this chapter up once and for all.  
It was very difficult to find a suitable name for the virus and I only decided on one that I thought appropriate in this version of the chapter.  
This is the first chapter in a long time that had not been beta read by anyone, so please help spot mistakes.  
It is 4 days short of being exactly 1 year after the last update of this story. **

**I ask for the forgiveness of everyone. I hope to make it up by giving you all a good story. I cannot promise anything anymore, only that I will never stop updating my stories. Ever. Short of meeting God early. I hope that it is enough to assure everyone that this story will go on. **

**And, I'll just say this to start: I knew that there would be a sixth season of Digimon. Look forward to it being integrated into the timeline as well some time in the distant future.**

**NOTE: I have also changed my penname from Digi9346 to Vylantze. This will be the last chapter released under the name of Digi9346.  
**


End file.
